
Class T1? ^% ^IL- 



GopightN". 



I (\',;v," 



COPYKIGHT DEPOSrli 



SHAKESPEARE'S 



HISTORY OF 



PERICLES, PRINCE OF TYRE 



EDITED, WITH NOTES 

BY 

WILLIAM J. ROLFE, Litt.D. 

FORMERLY HEAD MASTER OF THE HIGH SCHOOL 
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. 



ILLUSTRATED 



NEW YORK :• CINCINNATI •:• CHICAGO 

AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

DEC 29 1905 

Copyright Entry 
CLASS OL XXc. No. 

f 3 A ysy 

COPY B. 



ShakcGpoariciva 



Copyright, 1883 and 1898, by 
HARPER & BROTHERS. 



Copyright, 1905, by 
WILLIAM J. ROLFE. 



PERICLES. 
W. P. I 



as. 



PREFACE 

Shakespeare's part of this play is merely a rough 
sketch, which he seems to have thrown aside after 
making it; and this, like the inferior stuff used by 
another, or others, in finishing it for the stage, was 
wretchedly printed in the early editions. The text of 
all these is " corrupt and confused almost beyond de- 
scription." Many of the more manifest errors and 
imperfections were corrected by Malone, the first editor 
who gave the text serious attention. His successors 
have continued the work of emendation with varying 
success ; but not a few passages have baffled all their 
efforts and -must probably remain in hopeless obscurity. 
The chief results of this scholarly labour are recorded 
in my notes. They have an interest for advanced stu- 
dents and critical readers. Of course the play is never 
read in secondary schools, and seldom in the colleges 
or in Shakespeare clubs. 

In the former edition I printed the non-Shakespearian 
part of the play in smaller type ; but on the whole this 
seems unnecessary, and I now print the entire text in 
the usual manner. The introduction and notes have 
been thoroughly revised, and much new matter has 
been added. 



CONTENTS 



Introduction to Pericles, Prince of Tyre 
The History of the Play . 
The Sources of the Plot . 
General Comments on the Play 



Pericles, Prince 


OF 


Tyre 


Actl . 






Act II . 






Act III . 






Act IV . 






Act V . 






Notes . 







Appendix 

The " Collaboration " Theory of the Play 
The Stage History of the Play 
The Time- Analysis of the Play 
List of Characters in the Play 



PAGE 

9 

9 

II 

12 

29 

31 

54 

74 

89 

108 

129 



210 
213 
214 

215 



Index of Words and Phrases Explained 



219 




Floating Chest 




INTRODUCTION 



TO 



PERICLES, PRINCE OF TYRE 



The History of the Play 

Pericles, Prince of Tyre, was first published in quarto 
in 1609, with the following title-page : — 

'^ The Late, And much admired Play, called Pericles, 
Prince of Tyre. With the true Relation of the whole 
Historie, aduentures, and fortunes of the said Prince : 
As also. The no lesse strange and worthy accidents, in 
the Birth and Life of his Daughter Mariana. As it hath 
been diuers and sundry times acted by his Maiesties 

9 



lo Pericles, Prince of Tyre 

Seruants, at the Globe on the Banck-side. By William 
Shakespeare." 

Other quartos were published in the same year, and 
in 1611, 1619, 1630, and 1635. 

The play was not included in either the first or the 
second (1632) folio, but was reprinted, with six plays 
wrongly attributed to Shakespeare, in the third folio 
(1664) and the fourth (1685). The foHo text is from 
the quarto of 1635. 

Rowe included Pericles in both his editions (1709 
and 17 14), but it was rejected by Pope and subsequent 
editors down to the time of Malone, who put it in his 
Supplement to Steevens's edition of 1778, and in his 
own edition of 1790. Steevens followed his example 
in 1793, and has been followed by all the recent editors 
except Keightley. 

It is now quite unanimously agreed by the critics 
that the first two acts of the play, together with the 
brothel scenes in the fourth act, were written by some 
other author than Shakespeare. " What remains is the 
pure and charming romance of Marina, the sea-born 
child of Pericles, her loss, and the recovery of both 
child and mother by the afflicted prince." Whether 
the poet enlarged and reconstructed an earlier play, 
or some other writer or writers filled out an un- 
finished work of his, we cannot positively decide, 
but the latter seems by far the more reasonable 
hypothesis. 

The date of the play in its present form is probably 



Introduction ii 

about 1 607 . It was first printed, as we have seen, in 1 609 , 
but it was entered on the Stationers' Registers on the 
20th of May, 1608. If, as Fleay tells us, the second 
scene of the third act is " palpably imitated in The 
Puritan (iv. 3)," which was acted in 1606, the date of 
Pericles cannot be later than that year. 

The Sources of the Plot 

The story upon which the play is founded is given in 
Laurence Twine's Patterne of Paineful Aduenters, first 
published in 1576, and in the tale of Appolijitts the 
Prince of Tyr, which forms a part of Gower's Cofifessio 
Amantis. Twine's novel is said to have been merely 
a reprint of the English translation (printed in 15 10) of 
the French version of the story by Robert Copland. It 
was taken originally from the Gesta Romanorum^ but the 
narrative there was only one of three Latin versions, all 
of which appear to have been based on a Greek tale of 
the fifth or sixth century of the Christian era. Gower 
acknowledges his indebtedness to 

" a cronique in dales gone, 
The wich is cleped Panteon;" 

that is, the Latin Pantheon of Godfrey of Viterbo, who 
wrote in the latter half of the 12 th century. 

In 1608 George Wilkins published a novel which was 
avowedly based on the acted play. The title-page was 
as follows : — 

" The Painful Aduentures of Pericles Prince of Tyre, 



12 Pericles, Prince of Tyre 

Being The true History of the Play of Pericles^ as it 
was lately presented by the worthy and ancient Poet 
lohn Gower.^'' 

We may fairly infer from the language of this title- 
page that the play was then a comparatively new- one, 
and that the date given above (1607, or possibly 1606) 
cannot be far astray. 

General Comments on the Play 

During the seventeenth century there is abundant 
contemporary evidence that Peiicles was indeed, as its 
title-pages assert it to have been, a " much admired 
play." Ben Jonson growled at it as " a mouldy tale," 
made up of " scraps out of every dish." But this was 
when, prematurely old, poor, and mortified at public 
injustice, he poured forth his " just indignation at the 
vulgar censure of his play, by malicious spectators ; " 
and in doing so he bears strong testimony that the 
public judgment as to Pericles was the reverse of his 
own — that it " kept up the play-club," and was the 
favourite dramatic repast to the exclusion of his own 
" well-ordered banquet," in what he denounced (in his 
Ode to Himself) as " a loathsome age," when 

" sweepings do as well 
As the best-ordered meal ; 
For who the relish of such guests would fit 
Needs set them but the alms-basket of wit." 

Ben's frank and friendly admonitor, the moralist Owen 



Introduction 13 

Feltham, replies by reminding him that there were 
scenes and jokes in his own unfortunate play (the New 

Inn) that 

" throw a stain 
Through all the unlucky plot, and do displease 
As deep as Pericles ; " 

thus giving an additional testimony that the faults of 
Pei'-ides did not escape the critical eye, while they 
pleased the many. Thus the play kept possession of 
the stage to the days of Addison, when Pericles was one 
of the favourite parts of Betterton. Dryden, who lived 
near enough to the author's time to have learned the 
stage tradition from contemporaries, while he evidently 
perceived the imperfections of this play, never doubted 
its authenticity, and accounted for its inferiority to 
the greater tragedies by considering this to be due to the 
consequences of the poet's youthful inexperience (Pro- 
logue to Davenant's Circe ^ 1675) : — 

" Shakespeare's own muse her Pericles first bore ; 
The Prince of Tyre was elder than the Moor. 
'T is miracle to see a first good play ; 
All hawthorns do not bloom on Christmas day." 

This was in 1675, and the play continued to be re- 
garded as Shakespeare's until 1709, when Rowe, as 
already stated, included it in his edition. But, instead 
of apparently reckoning it a youthful production of 
the dramatist, as Dryden had done, he said that ^' it 
is owned that some part of Pericles was written by him, 
particularly the last scene," implying that the rest was 



14 Pericles, Prince of Tyre 

by some inferior playwright. Pope, in his preface, said 
he had '^ no doubt that these wretched plays, Pericles^ 
Locrine, Sir John Oldcastle, etc., etc., cannot be ad- 
mitted as his." His successors who excluded it did so 
without comment, and until the time of Malone the 
critics and writers upon the English drama treated it 
only as a play once erroneously attributed to Shake- 
speare. Malone declared that it was " the entire work 
of Shakespeare, and one of his earliest compositions." 
Steevens, on the other hand, said of it : " The drama 
contains no discrimination of manners (except in the 
comic dialogues), very few traces of original thought, 
and is evidently destitute of that intelligence and use- 
ful knowledge that pervade even the meanest of Shake- 
speare's undisputed performances." After analyzing 
the plot at some length, he concludes by expressing his 
belief " that our great poet had no share in construct- 
ing it." This decision long remained unquestioned. 
Hallam, indeed, thought that many passages in it were 
more in Shakespeare's manner than that of any con- 
temporary writer, but that it was " full of evident marks 
of an inferior hand." Gifford rejected it and called it 
" the worthless Pericles.'*'' 

Godwin, in his Life of Chaucer (1803), incidentally 
referring to Pericles^ terms it " a beautiful drama, which 
in sweetness of manner, delicacy of description, truth 
of feeling, and natural ease of language, would do 
honour to the greatest author that ever existed." Mr. 
B. W. Procter ("Barry Cornwall") insists that "the 



Introduction 15 

merit and style of the work sufficiently denote the 
author," who " was and is, beyond all competition, 
the greatest poet that the world has ever seen." 

Verplanck (in 1847), after referring to the theory 
that Pericles was one of the very earliest of Shake- 
speare's plays, "perhaps an almost boyish work," was 
inclined to adopt the theory that " the original Pericles 
was by some inferior hand, perhaps by a personal 
friend of Shakespeare's, and that he, without remodel- 
ling the plot, undertook to correct and improve it, 
beginning with slight additions, and his mind, warming 
as he proceeded, breaking out towards the close of the 
drama with its accustomed vigour and abundance." 

The fatal objection to this hypothesis is that the first 
two acts of the play are so uniformly and so abominably 
bad that we cannot imagine Shakespeare undertaking 
to revise such a play and leaving two entire acts in 
their original condition. 

There is the same insuperable objection to the theory 
that Pericles was written by Shakespeare and another 
writer working together — a theory which, strangely 
enough, has been revived by Mr. Lee, who says that 
Shakespeare " reverted in the year following the colos- 
sal effort of Lear (1607) to his earlier habit of collabo- 
ration, and with another's aid composed two dramas — 
Timon of Athens and Pericles. '''' Is it conceivable that 
the author of Lear would collaborate with one who could 
write the first two acts of Pericles, or that after allowing 
his partner to write those acts without aid or advice 



1 6 Pericles, Prince of Tyre 

from himself (for there is not a line in them which he 
could have written or even retouched) he accepted or 
approved them, and then began work himself on the 
third act in the grand style of that period in his own 
career? 

This theory, moreover, as well as the theory that 
Shakespeare finished or revised a play by somebody 
else, assumes, as Fleay has said, that the dramatist 
" deliberately chose a story of incest, which, having no 
tragic horror in it, would have been rejected by Ford 
or Massinger, and grafted on this a filthy story, which, 
being void of humour, would even have been rejected 
by Fletcher." 

The one theory that explains all the facts in the case, 
and also the perplexity that these facts have caused the 
critics, is thus stated by Fleay : " Shakespeare wrote 
the story of Marina, in the last three acts, minus the 
prose scenes and the Gower. This gives a perfect ar- 
tistic and organic whole, and, in my opinion, ought to 
be printed as such in every edition of Shakespeare : the 
whole play, as it stands, might be printed in collections 
for the curious, and there only. But this story was not 
enough for filling the necessary five acts from which 
Shakespeare never deviated ; he therefore left it un- 
finished, and used the arrangement of much of the later 
part in the end of The Winter's Tale, which should be 
carefully compared with this play. The unfinished play 
was put into the hands of another of the ' poets ' attached 
to the same theatre, and the greater part of the present 



Introduction 17 

play was the result ; this poet having used the whole 
story as given in Gower and elsewhere." 

It is not necessary to assume that this hypothesis 
is correct in all its details. The essential point is that 
an unfinished play of Shakespeare's was finished by 
somebody else ; not that he finished or revised a play 
by somebody else. 

We may be sure, however, that Shakespeare had 
nothing whatever to do with the completion of the 
play. It is inconceivable that he could have con- 
sented to its being completed by such a person as did 
it or in the way in which he did it. 

Delius and Fleay agree that the person who wrote 
acts i. and ii. and the Gower matter was George Wil- 
kins, who wTote the novel based on the play. Fleay 
believes that the offensive prose scenes were the work 
of W. Rowley. He discovered that about the time 
when Pericles was written Wilkins, Rowley, and John 
Day collaborated in writing The Travels of the Three 
English brothers^ Sir Thomas^ Sir Anthony^ and Sir 
Robert Shirley, an Historicall Play, printed in 1607. 

In the discussion that followed the reading of Fleay's 
paper on Pericles before the New Shakspere Society, 
May 8th, 1874, Furnivall said : — 

" I hope the fact I am going to mention will render 
all further discussion as to the Shakspere part of the 
Pericles unnecessary. When I first saw Mr. Tennyson 
last winter — after many years' occasional correspond- 
ence — he asked me, during our talk, whether I had 

PERICLES — 2 



1 8 Pericles, Prince of Tyre 

ever examined Pericles with any care. I had to confess 
that I 'd never read it, as some friends whom I con- 
sidered good judges had told me it was very doubtful 
whether Shakspere wrote any of it. Mr. Tennyson 
answered, ' O, that won't do ! He wrote all the part 
relating to the birth and recovery of Marina, and the 
recovery of Thais. I settled that long ago. Come up- 
stairs, and I '11 read it to you.' Up-stairs to the smok- 
ing-room in Seamore Place we went, and there I had 
the rare treat of hearing the poet read in his deep voice 

— with an occasional triumphant 'Isn't that Shak- 
spere ? what do you think of it ? ' and a few comments 

— the genuine part of Pericles. I need not tell you 
how I enjoyed the reading, or how quick and sincere 
my conviction of the genuineness of the part read was." 

The parts read by Tennyson were almost exactly 
the same that Fleay had marked as Shakespeare's ; 
and, as Furnivall adds, " the independent confirma- 
tion of the poet-critic's result by the metrical-test- 
worker's process is most satisfactory and interesting." 

Verplanck remarks : " The ' glorious uncertainty of 
the law ' has been exemphfied and commemorated, in 
a large and closely printed volume, containing nothing 
but the mere titles of legal decisions, once acknowledged 
as law, and since reversed or contradicted, as * cases 
overruled, doubted, or denied.' The decisions of the 
critical tribunals would furnish materials for a much 
larger work ; and Shakespearian criticism, by itself, 
would supply an ample record of varying or overruled 



Introduction 19 

judgments. Those on the subject of Pericles alone 
would constitute a large title in the collection. 

"Yet, in the play itself may be found some founda- 
tion for all and each of those opinions, though least for 
the hasty and vague censures of Pope and Gilford. 
The play is awkwardly and unskilfully constructed, 
being on the plan of the old legendary drama, when it 
was thought sufficient to put some popular narrative 
into action, with little attempt at a condensed and sus- 
tained continuous interest in the plot or its personages. 
It rambles along through the period of two generations, 
without any attempt at the artist-like management of a 
similar duration in the Winter's Tale, by breaking up 
the story into parts, and making the one a natural 
sequel to the other, so as to keep up a uniform con- 
tinuity of interest throughout both. . . . 

'^ From these circumstances, if, at the time when 
Pericles was excluded from the ordinary editions, its 
place had been supplied by a prose outline of the 
story, with occasional specimens of the dialogue, such 
as Voltaire gave of Julius Ccesar, selected only from 
the most extravagant passages, there would be little 
hesitation in denying the whole or the greater part of 
the play to be Shakespeare's, or in allowing that it 
bore 'evident marks of an inferior hand.' 

'' Yet, on the other hand, it contains much to please, 
to surprise, to affect, and to delight. The introduction 
of old Gower, linking together the broken action by his 
antiquated legendary narrative, is original and pleas- 



20 Pericles, Prince of Tyre 

ing. The very first scenes have here and there some 
passages of sudden and unexpected grandeur, and the 
later acts bear everywhere the very ' form and pressure ' 
of Shakespeare's mind. Yet it is observable, that wher- 
ever we meet him, in his own unquestionable person, it is 
not as the poetic Shakespeare of the youthful comedies, 
but with the port and style of the author of Lear and 
Cordelia. Indeed, the scene, in the last act, of Pericles 's 
recognition of his daughter, recalls strongly the touch- 
ing passages of Cordelia's filial love, and Lear's return 
to reason, by a resemblance, not so much of situation 
or language as of spirit and feeling. The language and 
style of these nobler passages are peculiarly Shake- 
spearian, and, as Mr. Hallam justly observes, ' of the 
poet's later manner.' They have his emphatic mode of 
employing the plainest and most homely words in the 
highest and most poetical sense, — his original com- 
pounds, his crowded magnificence of gorgeous imagery, 
interspersed with the simplest touches of living nature. 
Thus, when Pericles retraces his lost wife's features in 
his recovered child : — 

" * My dearest wife was like this maid, and such a one 

My daughter might have been : my queen's square brows, 

Her stature to an inch, as wand-like straight. 

As silver-voic'd, her eyes as jewel-like 

And cas'd as richly ; in pace another Juno, 

Who starves the ears she feeds, and makes them hungry 

The more she gives them speech.' 

'' Here, too, we find his peculiar mode of stating and 



Introduction 21 

enforcing general truths — not in didactic digression, 
but as interwoven with and growing out of the incidents 
or passing emotions of the scene. Taking these char- 
acteristics into view, and these alone, the play must be 
pronounced worthy of all the praise bestowed by God- 
win. If, then, we were to reverse the experiment, just 
suggested, upon the supposed reader who knows no 
more of Pericles than that it is a play which has been 
ascribed by some to Shakespeare, and to place before 
him a prose abstract of the plot, interspersed with large 
extracts from the finer passages, he would surely wonder 
why there could have been a moment's hesitation in 
placing Pericles by the side of Cymbeline and the 
Winter's TaUr 

Critics have sometimes sneered at the inferences 
concerning the history of the plays drawn from the 
results of metrical analysis ; and it may be admitted 
that when viewed apart from other evidence their sig- 
nificance is liable to be overestimated. But when we 
find them in almost absolute accordance with indepen- 
dent evidence — like that of the poet Tennyson, as cited 
by Furnivall ~ their force is far more than doubled. In 
regard to the present play the metrical analysis of itself 
shows so striking a difference between the verse of the 
first two and the last three acts that, as Fleay remarks, 
it " renders it astonishing that they could ever have 
been supposed to be the work of one author." In the 
paper referred to above he gives the following " com- 
parative table : " — 



Acts i., ii. 


Acts iii., iv., v 


835 


827 


195 


14 


72 


106 


5 


13 


71 


98 


8 


16 



22 Pericles, Prince of Tyre 



Total no. of lines . . 
No. of rhyme lines . 
No. of double endings 
No. of Alexandrines . 
No. of short lines . . 
No. of rhymes not dialogue 

He adds : " The differences in the other items are 
striking, and of themselves conclusive ; but the differ- 
ence of the numbers of rhymes, the proportion being 
14 in the one part to i in the other, is such as the most 
careless critic ought to have long since noticed. With 
regard to this main question, then, there can be no 
doubt : the three last acts alone can be Shakespeare's ; 
the other part is by some one of a very different school. 
But we have minor questions of some interest to 
settle. The first of these is. Who wrote the scenes in 
the brothel, act iv. sc. 2, 5, 6? I say decidedly, 
not Shakespeare, for these reasons : These scenes are 
totally unlike Shakespeare's in feeling on such matters. 
He would not have indulged in the morbid anatomy of 
such loathsome characters ; he would have covered the 
ulcerous sores with a film of humour, if it w^ere a neces- 
sary part of his moral surgery to treat them at all ; and, 
above all, he would not have married Marina to a man 
whose acquaintance she had first made in a public 
brothel, to which his motives of resort were not recom- 
mendatory, however involuntary hei- sojourn there may 
have been. A still stronger argument is the omission 
of any allusion in the after-scenes to these three. In 



Introduction 



23 



one place, indeed, there seems to be a contradiction of 
them. The after-account of Marina, which is amply 
sufficient without the prose scenes for dramatic pur- 
poses, is given thus (v. i) : — 

* We haue a maid'vsx Metiline . . . 

She with her fellow maides [is] now upon 
The leauie shelter that abutts against 
The Islands side.' 

I cannot reconcile this with iv. 6 : — 

' Proclaim that I can sing, weave, sowe, and dance, 
And [I] will undertake all these to teach.' 

nor with v. Gower : — 

* Pupils lacks she none of nobler race, 

Who pour their bounty on her : and her gain 

She gives the cursed Bawd.^ 

" But if these scenes are not Shakespeare's (and 
repeated examination only strengthens my conviction 
that they are not), the clumsy Gower chorus is not his 
either. ... 

" In confirmation of the general conclusions arrived 
at above, I may add a few isolated considerations. In 
the list of the actors' names, Boult, Bawd, and Pander 
are omitted : now these, and these only, are the addi- 
tional characters introduced in the brothel scenes in 
the fourth act. This looks very much as if these scenes 
had been an afterthought added when the rest of the 
play had been already arranged. Couple with this the 
fact that the Gower parts in acts iv., v., in which these 



24 Pericles, Prince of Tyre 

scenes are alluded to, are in lines of five measures, and 
not of four, as those in the earlier acts are : observe, 
also, that these scenes, though far from reaching to 
Shakespeare's excellence, are certainly superior to any- 
thing in the first two acts, so far as mere literature is 
concerned, and it will be almost certain that three 
authors were concerned in this play. The first author 
wrote the first two acts, and arranged the whole so as 
to incorporate the Shakespeare part. The second 
wrote the five-measure Gower parts and the brothel- 
scenes in acts iv., v., in order to lengthen out the play 
to the legitimate five acts." 

As additional evidence in support of the theory that 
George Wilkins was the author of acts i. and ii., Fleay 
says : " I give an analysis of the metre of the only play 
of Wilkins which we possess — The Miseries of Inforced 
Marriage — which will be found to coincide very closely 
with that of acts i., ii. of Pericles given above, and 
which is more like it than that of any other play among 
the hundreds I have tabulated. There are in that play 
526 rhyming lines, 155 double endings, 15 Alexan- 
drines, 102 short lines, 14 rhyming lines of less than five 
measures, and a good deal of prose, which, seeing that 
the play is about three times the length of the first two 
acts of Pericles, gives a marvellously close agreement 
in percentage." 

Furnivall aptly remarks : "As you read through 
the dull beginning acts, you at once feel the change 
of hand when you come on the first words of act 



Introduction 25 

iii. : ' Thou god of this great vast.' You see the birth 
of Marina, the supposed death and casting into the 
sea of her mother Thaisa, the committal of the babe 
to Cleon's treacherous wife Dionyza, the betrayal of 
her trust by that harpy, and her persuading Leonine to 
murder Marina simply because she was more beautiful 
than her own daughter. Then we see Marina rescued, 
but see, too, the despair of Pericles on hearing of her 
(supposed) death, his three months' silence, and then 
his recovery under his daughter's earnest pleas : — 

* Who starves the ears she feeds, and makes them hungry 
The more she gives them speech.' 

And then his great ' sea of joys ' rushing upon him 
when he is convinced of her existence ; then, his first 
thoughts of vengeance postponed, his visit to the Tem- 
ple of Diana at Ephesus, the high-priestess, his wife 
Thaisa, recognising him, and thus finding husband and 
daughter at once : ' Pericles. Ye gods, your present 
kindness makes my past misery,' etc. Thenceforth 
he thinks only of their daughter's marriage ; vengeance 
is forgotten in his joy. Shakspere's motive in taking 
up the story was surely this reunion of father, mother, 
and daughter, and not the early part, of Apollonius of 
Tyre's incest with his child, which Chaucer reproached 
Gower for telling. Still, he may have meant to show 
us Marina by her purity and virgin presence disarming 
the lust of men, thus giving us in her a Fourth-Period 
representative of the glorious Third-Period Isabella. . . . 



26 Pericles J Prince of Tyre 

One passage in Pericles has for me a personal interest 
as regards Shakspere. Seeing with what contempt he 
treated the apothecaries in the Errors and Romeo and 
Juliet, and how little notice he took of the Doctor in 
Macbeth, we are struck with the very different' char- 
acter he gives to the noble, scientific, and generous 
Cerimon here. He is a man working for the good of 
all, the kind of man that Bacon would have desired for 
a friend. And recollecting that the date of this play is 
1608 (or 1607), I cannot help believing that Cerimon 
represents to some extent the famous Stratford physi- 
cian, Dr. John Hall, who, on June 5, 1607, married 
Shakspere's eldest daughter Susanna." 

This view of Cerimon, to my thinking, is strongly 
confirmed by the similar character of Cornelius, the 
wise and good physician in Cytnbeline, written two or 
three years later. 

Herford remarks that the first two acts of the 
play, " helplessly reproducing the incoherent series of 
Pericles' pre-nuptial adventures, are equally devoid of 
the brilliancy of Shakespeare's youth and of the subtle 
technique of his maturity. They combine the imper- 
fect craft of the 'prentice with the dulness of the jour- 
neyman." He adds: "But the opening of the third 
act, by one of the most amazing transitions in literature, 
suddenlysteeps us in the atmosphere of high poetry. . . . 
In the tossing ship Marina has her rude welcome to 
the world, and throughout the rest of the play Shake- 
speare's comings-in and goings-out tend to follow hers. 



Introduction 27 

. . . Besides exhibiting Shakespearian style, these por- 
tions of Pericles abound in Shakespearian motives. 
Especially close affinities bind them with the ' Ro- 
mances ' which immediately followed them. Like The 
Tempest^ these Marina-scenes open with storm, and 
Pericles, confronting its tragic cruelty, is as grand a 
figure as Prospero. Marina stands ' flower-like among 
her flowers ' like Perdita, and reads the poisonous 
tenderness of a jealous mother, like Imogen. The 
meeting of Pericles with Thaisa and with Marina 
is drawn with as profound a feeling for joy as that 
of Leontes with Perdita and with Hermione." 



PERICLES, PRINCE OF TYRE 



DRAMATIS PERSONS 

* Antiochus, king of Antioch. 

Pericles, prince of Tyre. 

HelICANUS, I » 1 J r-T' 

EscANES, ( two lords Of Tyre. 
SiMONiDES, king of Pentapolis. 
Cleon, governor of Tarsus. 
Lysimachus, governor of Mytilene. 
Cerimon, a lord of Ephesus. 
Thaliard, a lord of Antioch. 
Philemon, servant to Cerimon. 
Leonine, servant to Dionyza. 
Marshal. 
A Pandar. 
BouLT, his servant. 

The Daughter of Antiochus. 
Dionyza, wife to Cleon/ 
Thaisa, daughter to Simonides. 
Marina, daughter to Pericles and Thaisa. 
Lychorida, nurse to Marina. 
A Bawd. 

Lords. Knights, Gentlemen, Sailors, Pirates, Fishermen, and Messengers. 

Diana. 

Gower, as Chorus. 

Scene: Dispersedly in various countries. 




Palace at Antioch 



ACT I 

Enter Gower 

Before the Palace of Antioch 

To sing a song that old was sung, 
From ashes ancient Gower is come, 
Assuming man's infirmities, 
To glad your ear and please your eyes. 
It hath been sung at festivals, 
On ember-eves and holy-ales ; 
And lords and ladies in their lives 
Have read it for restoratives. 



32 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act i 

The purchase is to make men glorious ; 

Et bonum quo antiquius, eo melius. lo 

If you, born in these latter times, 

When wit 's more ripe, accept my rhymes, 

And that to hear an old man sing 

May to your wishes pleasure bring, 

I life would wish, and that I might 

Waste it for you, like taper-light. 

This Antioch, then, Antiochus the Great 

Built up, this city, for his chiefest seat ; 

The fairest in all Syria, — 

I tell you what mine authors say. 20 

This king unto him took a fere, 

Who died and left a female heir. 

So buxom, bhthe, and full of face, 

As heaven had lent her all his grace ; 

With whom the father liking took. 

And her to incest did provoke. 

Bad child, worse father ! to entice his own 

To evil should be done by none ; 

But custom what they did begin 

Was with long use account no sin. 30 

The beauty of this sinful dame 

Made many princes thither frame. 

To seek her as a bed-fellow. 

In marriage-pleasures play-fellow ; 

Which to prevent he made a law. 

To keep her still, and men in awe, 

That whoso ask'd her for his wife. 



Scene I] Pericles, Prince of Tyre ^^ 

His riddle told not, lost his life. 

So for her many a wight did die, 

As yon grim looks do testify. 40 

What now ensues, to the judgment of your eye 

I give, my cause who best can justify. [£xi^. 

Scene I. Antioch. A Roo7n in the Palace 
Enter Antiochus, Prince Pericles, and followers 

Antiochus. Young prince of Tyre, you have at large 
receiv'd 
The danger of the task you undertake. 

Pericles. I have, Antiochus, and, with a soul 
Embolden'd with the glory of her praise, 
Think death no hazard in this enterprise. 

Antiochus. Bring in our daughter, clothed like a 
bride, 
For the embracements even of Jove himself, 
At whose conception, till Lucina reign 'd, 
Nature this dowry gave, to glad her presence, — 
The senate-house of planets all did sit, 10 

To knit in her their best perfections. 

Music. Enter the Daughter of Antiochus 

Pericles. See where she comes, apparell'd like the 
spring, 
Graces her subjects, and her thoughts the king 
Of every virtue gives renown to men ! 
Her face the book of praises, where is read 
Nothing but curious, pleasures, as from thence 

PERICLES — 3 



34 PericleSj Prince of Tyre [Act i 

Sorrow were ever raz'd, and testy wrath 

Could never be her mild companion. 

You gods that made me man, and sway in love, 

That have inflam'd desire in my breast 20 

To taste the fruits of yon celestial tree 

Or die in the adventure, be my helps, 

As I am son and servant to your will, 

To compass such a boundless happiness ! 

Antiochus. Prince Pericles, — 

Pericles. That would be son to great Antiochus. 

Antiochus. Before thee stands this fair Hesperides, 
With golden fruit, but dangerous to be touch'd, 
For death-like dragons here affright thee hard. 
Her face, like heaven, enticeth thee to view 30 

Her countless glory, which desert must gain, 
And which, without desert, because thine eye 
Presumes to reach, all thy whole heap must die. 
Yon sometimes famous princes, like thyself, 
Drawn by report, adventurous by desire. 
Tell thee, with speechless tongues and semblance pale. 
That without covering, save yon field of stars. 
Here they stand martyrs, slain in Cupid's wars, 
And with dead cheeks advise thee to desist 
For going on death's net, whom none resist. 40 

Pericles. Antiochus, I thank thee, who hath taught 
My frail mortality to know itself, 
And by those fearful objects to prepare 
This body, like to them, to what I must ; 
For death remember'd should be like a mirror, 



Scene I] Pericles, Prince of Tyre ^^ 

Who tells us life 's but breath, to trust it error. 

I '11 make my will then, and, as sick men do 

Who know the world, see heaven, but, feeling woe, 

Gripe not at earthly joys as erst they did. 

So I bequeath a happy peace to you 50 

And all good men, as every prince should do ; 

My riches to the earth from whence they came, — 

But my unspotted fire of love to you. — 

[To the daughter of Antiochus. 
Thus ready for the way of life or death, 
I wait the sharpest blow, Antiochus. 

Antiochus. Scorning advice, read the conclusion then, 
Which read and not expounded, 't is decreed, 
As these before thee thou thyself shalt bleed. 

Daughter. Of all say'd yet, mayst thou prove pros- 
perous ! 
Of all say'd yet, I wish thee happiness ! 60 

Pericles. Like a bold champion, I assume the lists. 
Nor ask advice of any other thought 
But faithfulness and courage. 

\He reads the riddle^^ 
I am no viper., yet I feed 
On mother^ s flesh which did me breed. 
I sought a husband, in which labour 
I found that kindtiess in a father. 
He '^s father^ son., and husband mild ; 
I mother, wife, and yet his child. 
How they may be., and yet in two., 70 

As you will live, resolve it you. 



^6 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act i 

Sharp physic is the last ; but, O you powers 

That give heaven countless eyes to view men's acts, 

Why cloud they not their sights perpetually, 

If this be true which makes me pale to read it ? — 

Fair glass of light, I lov'd you, and could still, 

[Ta^es hold of the hand of the Princess. 
Were not this glorious casket stor'd with ill ; 
But I must tell you, now my thoughts revolt. 
For he 's no man on whom perfections wait 
That, knowing sin within, will touch the gate. 80 

You are a fair viol, and your sense the strings, 
Who, finger'd to make man his lawful music. 
Would draw heaven down, and all the gods, to hearken ; 
But, being play'd upon before your time. 
Hell only danceth at so harsh a chime. 
Good sooth, I care not for you. 

Antiochus. Prince Pericles, touch not, upon thy life, 
For that 's an article within our law. 
As dangerous as the rest. Your time 's expir'd ; 
Either expound now, or receive your sentence. 90 

Pericles. Great king. 
Few love to hear the sins they love to act ; 
'T would braid yourself too near for me to tell it. 
Who has a book of all that monarchs do, 
He 's more secure to keep it shut than shown, 
For vice repeated is like the wandering wind. 
Blows dust in others' eyes, to spread itself ; 
And yet the end of all is bought thus dear, 
The breath is gone, and the sore eyes see clear 9^ 



Scene I] Pericles, Prince of Tyre 37 

To stop the air would hurt them. The blind mole casts 
Copp'd hills towards heaven, to tell the earth is throng'd 
By man's oppression ; and the poor worm doth die for 't. 
Kings are earth's gods ; in vice their law 's their will, 
And if Jove stray, who dares say Jove doth ill ? 
It is enough you know ; and it is fit, 
What being more known grows worse, to smother it. 
All love the womb that their first being bred, 
Then give my tongue like leave to love my head. 

Antiochus. \Aside\ Heaven, that I had thy head ! he 
has found the meaning ; 
But I will gloze with him. — Young prince of Tyre, no 
Though by the tenor of our strict edict, 
Your exposition misinterpreting. 
We might proceed to cancel of your days, 
Yet hope, succeeding from so fair a tree 
As your fair self, doth tune us otherwise. 
Forty days longer we do respite you ; 
If by which time our secret be undone, 
This mercy shows we '11 joy in such a son. 
And until then your entertain shall be 
As doth befit our honour and your worth. 

[Exeunt all but Pericles. 

Pericles. How courtesy would seem to cover sin 121 
When what is done is like an hypocrite, 
The which is good in nothing but in sight ! 
If it be true that I interpret false. 
Then were it certain you were not so bad 
As with foul incest to abuse your soul, 



38 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act i 

Where now you 're both a father and a son, 

By your untimely claspings with your child, 

Which pleasure fits an husband, not a father ; 

And she an eater of her mother's flesh, 130 

By the defiling of her parent's bed ; 

And both like serpents are, who though they feed 

On sweetest flowers, yet they poison breed. 

Antioch, farewell ! for wisdom sees, those men 

Blush not in actions blacker than the night 

Will shun no course to keep them from the light. 

One sin, I know, another doth provoke ; 

Murther 's as near to lust as flame to smoke ; 

Poison and treason are the hands of sin, 

Ay, and the targets, to put off the shame. 140 

Then, lest my life be cropp'd to keep you clear, 

By flight I '11 shun the danger which I fear. \Exit. 

Re-enter Antiochus 

Antiochus. He hath found the meaning, for the 
which we mean 
To have his head. 

He must not live to trumpet forth my infamy, 
Nor tell the world Antiochus doth sin 
In such a loathed manner ; 
And therefore instantly this prince must die, 
For by his fall my honour must keep high. — 
Who attends us there ? 

Enter Thaliard 

Thaliard. Doth your highness call ? r^o 



Scene I] Pericles, Prince of Tyre 39 

Antiochus. Thaliard, 
You are of our chamber, and our mind partakes 
Her private actions to your secrecy ; 
And for your faithfulness we will advance you. 
Thaliard, behold, here 's poison, and here 's gold ; 
We hate the prince of Tyre, and thou must kill him. 
It fits thee not to ask the reason why. 
Because we bid it. Say, is it done ? 

Thaliard. My lord, 

'T is done. ■ 

Antiochus. Enough. — 160 

Enter a Messenger 

Let your breath cool yourself, telling your haste. 

Messenger. My lord, prince Pericles is fied. [Exit. 

Antiochus. As thou 

Wilt live, fly after ; and like an arrow shot 
From a well-experienc'd archer hits the mark 
His eye doth level at, so thou ne'er return 
Unless thou say ' Prince Pericles is dead.' 

Thaliard. My lord. 
If I can get him within my pistol's length, 
I '11 make him sure enough ; so farewell to your high- 
ness. 

Antiochus. Thaliard, adieu ! — \_Exit Thaliai'd7\ Till 

Pericles be dead, 170 

My heart can lend no succour to my head. \^Exit. 



40 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act I 

Scene II. Tyre. A Room in the Palace 

Enter Pericles 

Pericles. [To Lords without^ Let none disturb us. — 
Why should this change of thoughts, 
The sad companion, dull-eyed melancholy, 
Be my so us'd a guest as not an hour, 
In the day's glorious walk or peaceful night. 
The tomb where grief should sleep, can breed me quiet ? 
Here pleasures court mine eyes, and mine eyes shun 

them. 
And danger, which I fear'd, is at Antioch, 
Whose arm seems far too short to hit me here ; 
Yet neither pleasure's art can joy my spirits, 
Nor yet the other's distance comfort me. lo 

Then it is thus : the passions of the mind. 
That have their first conception by misdread, 
Have after-nourishment and life by care ; 
And what was first but fear what might be done 
Grows elder now and cares it be not done. 
And so with me : the great Antiochus, 
'Gainst whom I am too little to contend, 
Since he 's so great can make his will his act. 
Will think me speaking, though I swear to silence ; 
Nor boots it me to say I honour him, 20 

If he suspect I may dishonour him. 
And what may make him blush in being known. 
He '11 stop the course by which it might be known ; 



Scene II] Pericles, Prince of Tyre 41 

With hostile forces he '11 o'erspread the land, 

And with the ostent of war will look so huge, 

Amazement shall drive courage from the state, 

Our men be vanquish'd ere they do resist. 

And subjects punish'd that ne'er thought offence ; 

Which care of them, not pity of myself. 

Who am no more but as the tops of trees, 30 

Which fence the roots they grow by and defend them. 

Makes both my body pine and soul to languish. 

And punish that before that he would punish. 

Enter Helicanus, with other Lords 

1 Lord. Joy and all comfort in your sacred breast ! 

2 Lord. And keep your mind, till you return to us, 
Peaceful and comfortable ! 

Helicanus. Peace, peace, and give experience tongue. 
They do abuse the king that flatter him. 
For flattery is the bellows blows up sin ; 
The thing the which is flatter'd, but a spark, 40 

To which the blast gives heat and stronger glowing ; 
Whereas reproof, obedient and in order. 
Fits kings, as they are men, for they may err. — 
When Signior Sooth here doth proclaim a peace, 
He flatters you, makes war upon your life. 
Prince, pardon me, or strike me, if you please ; 
I cannot be much lower than my knees. 

Pericles. All leave us else ; but let your cares o'er- 
look 
What shipping and what lading 's in our haven. 



42 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act i 

And then return to us. — [Exeunt Lords.'] Helicanus, 
thou 50 

Hast moved us ; what seest thou in our looks ? 

Helicanus. An angry brow, dread lord. 

Pericles. If there be such a dart in princes' frowns, 
How durst thy tongue move anger to our face ? 

Helicanus. How dare the plants look up to heaven, 
from whence 
They have their nourishment? 

Pericles. Thou know'st I have power 

To take thy life from thee. 

Helicanus. \Kneeling\ I have ground the axe myself ; 
Do you but strike the blow. 

Pericles. Rise, prithee, rise, 

Sit down ; thou art no flatterer. 60 

I thank thee for it ; and heaven forbid 
That kings should let their ears hear their faults hid ! 
Fit counsellor and servant for a prince. 
Who by thy wisdom mak'st a prince thy servant, 
What wouldst thou have me do ? 

Helica7ius. To bear with patience 

Such griefs as you yourself do lay upon yourself. 

Pericles. Thou speak'st like a physician, Helicanus, 
That minister'st a potion unto me 
That thou wouldst tremble to receive thyself. 
Attend me, then : I went to Antioch, 70 

Where as thou know'st, against the face of death, 
I sought the purchase of a glorious beauty. 
From whence an issue I might propagate, 



Scene II] Pericles, Prince of Tyre 43 

Are arms to princes and bring joys to subjects. 

Her face was to mine eye beyond all wonder, 

The rest — hark in thine ear — as black as incest, 

Which by my knowledge found, the sinful father 

Seem'd not to strike, but smooth ; but thou know'st this, 

'T is time to fear when tyrants seem to kiss. 

Which fear so grew in me, I hither fled, 80 

Under the covering of a careful night, 

Who seem'd my good protector ; and, being here, 

Bethought me what was past, what might succeed. 

I knew him tyrannous, and tyrants' fears 

Decrease not, but grow faster than the years ; 

And should he doubt it, as no doubt he doth, 

That I should open to the listening air 

How many worthy princes' bloods were shed, 

To keep his bed of blackness unlaid ope, 

To lop that doubt, he '11 fill this land with arms, 90 

And make pretence of wrong that I have done him ; 

When all, for mine — if I may call 't — offence. 

Must feel war's blow, who spares not innocence ; 

Which love to all, of which thyself art one. 

Who now reprov'st me for it, — 

Helicanus. Alas, sir ! 

Pericles. Drew sleep out of mine eyes, blood from 
my cheeks, 
Musings into my mind, with thousand doubts 
How I might stop this tempest ere it came ; 
And finding little comfort to relieve them, 
I thought it princely charity to grieve them. 100 



44 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act i 

Helicanus. Well, my lord, since you have given me 

leave to speak, 
Freely will I speak. Antiochus you fear, 
And justly too, I think, you fear the tyrant. 
Who either by public war or private treason 
Will take away your life. 
Therefore, my lord, go travel for a while, 
Till that his rage and anger be forgot, 
Or till the Destinies do cut his thread of life. 
Your rule direct to any ; if to me. 
Day serves not light more faithful than I '11 be. no 

Pericles. I do not doubt thy faith ; 
But should he wrong my liberties in my absence ? 
Helicanus. We '11 mingle our bloods together in the 

earth, 
From whence we had our being and our birth. 

Pericles. Tyre, I now look from thee then, and to 

Tarsus 
Intend my travel, where I '11 hear from thee. 
And by whose letters I '11 dispose myself. 
The care I had and have of subjects' good 
On thee I lay whose wisdom's strength can bear it. 
I '11 take thy word for faith, not ask thine oath ; 120 

Who shuns not to break one will sure crack both. 
But in our orbs we '11 live so round and safe 
That time of both this truth shall ne'er convince, — 
Thou show'dst a subject's shine, I a true prince. 

\_Exeunt. 



Scene III] Pericles, Prince of Tyre 45 

Scene III. Tyre. An Ante-chamber in the Palace 

Enter Thaliard 

Thaliard. So, this is Tyre, and this the court. 
Here must I kill King Pericles, and if I do not I 
am sure to be hanged at home ; ' t is dangerous. — 
Well, I perceive he was a wise fellow and had good 
discretion that, being bid to ask what he would of 
the king, desired he might know none of his secrets. 
Now do I see he had some reason for 't ; for if a 
king bid a man be a villain, he 's bound by the in- 
denture of his oath to be one. — Hush ! here come 
the lords of Tyre. 10 

Enter Helicanus, Escanes, and other Lords 

Helicanus. You shall not need, my fellow peers of 
Tyre, 
Further to question me of your king's departure ; 
His seal'd commission, left in trust with me, 
Doth speak sufficiently he 's gone to travel. 

Thaliard. [Aside"] How ! the king gone ! 

Helicanus. If further yet you will be satisfied 
Why, as it were unlicens'd of your loves, 
He would depart, I '11 give some light unto you. 
Being at Antioch — 

Thaliard. [Aside] What from Antioch ? 

Helicamcs. Royal Antiochus — on what cause I know 
not — 20 

Took some displeasure at him ; at least he judg'd so, 



46 PericleSj Prince of Tyre [Act I 

And doubting lest that he had err'd or sinn'd, 
To show his sorrow, he 'd correct himself, 
So puts himself unto the shipman's toil, 
With whom each minute threatens life or death. 

Thaliard. S^Aside\ Well, I perceive 
I shall not be hang'd now% although I w^ould, 
But since he 's gone, the king's ears it must please ; 
He scap'd the land, to perish at the sea. 
I '11 present myself. — Peace to the lords of Tyre ! 30 

Helicamis. Lord Thaliard from Antiochus is welcome. 

Thaliard. From him I come 
With message unto princely Pericles ; 
But since my landing I have understood 
Your lord has betook himself to unknown travels, 
My message must return from whence it came. 

Helicanus. We have no reason to desire it, 
Commended to our master, not to us ; 
Yet, ere you shall depart, this we desire, 39 

As friends to Antioch, we may feast in Tyre. \_Exeunt. 

Scene IV. Tarsus. A Room in the Governor's House 
Enter Cleon, Dionyza, and Attendants 

Clean. My Dionyza, shall we rest us here. 
And by relating tales of others' griefs 
See if 't will teach us to forget our own ? 

Dionyza. That were to blow a fire in hope to quench it ; 
For who digs hills because they do aspire 
Throws down one mountain to cast up a higher. 



Scene IV] PeHcles, Prince of Tyre 47 

my distressed lord, even such our griefs ; 

Here they 're but felt and seen with mischief's eyes, 
But like to groves, being topp'd, they higher rise. 

Clean. O Dionyza, * 10 

Who wanteth food and will not say he wants it, 
Or can conceal his hunger till he famish ? . 
Our tongues and sorrows do sound deep 
Our woes into the air ; our eyes do weep 
Till tongues fetch breath that may proclaim them louder ; 
That, if heaven slumber while their creatures want, 
They may awake their helps to comfort them. 

1 '11 then discourse our woes, felt several years. 
And, wanting breath to speak, help me with tears. 

Dionyza. I '11 do my best, sir. 20 

Cleon. This Tarsus, o'er which I have the government, 
A city on whom plenty held full hand. 
For riches strew'd herself even in the streets ; 
Whose towers bore heads so high they kiss'd the clouds, 
And strangers ne'er beheld but wonder 'd at ; 
Whose men and dames so jetted and adorn' d, 
Like one another's glass to trim them by ; 
Their tables were stor'd full, to glad the sight, 
And not so much to feed on as delight ; 
All poverty was scorn 'd, and pride so great 30 

The name of help grew odious to repeat. 

Dionyza. O, 'tis too true ! 

Cleon. But see what heaven can do ! By this our 
change. 
These mouths, who but of late earth, sea, and air 



4-8 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act i 

Were all too little to content and please, 

Although they gave their creatures in abundance, 

As houses are defil'd for want of use, 

They are now starv'd for want of exercise ; 

Those palates who, not yet two summers younger. 

Must have inventions to delight the taste, 40 

Would now be glad of bread, and beg for it ; 

Those mothers who, to nousle up their babes. 

Thought nought too curious, are ready now 

To eat those little darlings whom they lov'd. 

So sharp are hunger's teeth that man and wife 

Draw lots who first shall die to lengthen life. 

Here stands a lord, and there a lady weeping ; 

Here many sink, yet those which see them fall 

Have scarce strength left to give them burial. 

Is not this true ? 50 

JDionyza, Our cheeks and hollow eyes to witness it. 

Cleon. O, let those cities that of plenty's cup 
And her prosperities so largely taste, 
With their superfluous riots, hear these tears ! 
The misery of Tarsus may be theirs. 

Enter a Lord 

Lord. Where 's the lord governor ? 

Cleon. Here. 
Speak out thy sorrows which thou bring'st in haste, 
For comfort is too far for us to expect. 

Lord. We have descried, upon our neighbouring 
shore, 60 



Scene IV] Pericles, Prince of Tyre 49 

A portly sail of ships make hitherward. 

Cleon. I thought as much. 
One sorrow never comes but brings an heir] / 
That may succeed as his inheritor ; ' ' 

And so in ours. Some neighbouring nation, 
Taking advantage of our misery, 
Hath stuff 'd these hollow vessels with their power, 
To beat us down the which are down already, 
And make a conquest of unhappy me, 
Whereas no glory 's got to overcome. 70 

Lord. That 's the least fear ; for, by the semblance 
Of their white flags display'd, they bring us peace. 
And come to us as favourers, not as foes. 

Cleon, Thou speak'st like him 's un tutor 'd to repeat ; 
Who makes the fairest show means most deceit. 
But bring they what they will and what they can, 
What need we fear ? 

The ground 's the lowest, and we are half way there. 
Go tell their general we attend him here. 
To know for what he comes, and whence he comes, 80 
And what he craves. 

Lord. I go, my lord. \_Exit. 

Cleon. Welcome is peace, if he on peace consist ; 
If wars, we are unable to resist. 

Enter Pericles with Attendants 

Pericles. Lord governor, for so we hear you are, 
Let not our ships and number of our men 
Be like a beacon fir'd to amaze your eyes. 

PERICLES — 4 



^o Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act I 

We have heard your miseries as far as Tyre, 

And seen the desolation of your streets ; 

Nor come we to add sorrow to your tears, 90 

But to relieve them of their heavy load ; 

And these our ships, you happily may think 

Are like the Trojan horse was stuff 'd within 

With bloody veins, expecting overthrow, 

Are stor'd with corn to make your needy bread. 

And give them life whom hunger starv'd half dead. 

A//. The gods of Greece protect you ! 
And we '11 pray for you. 

Pericles. Arise, I pray you, rise ; 

We do not look for reverence, but for love. 
And harbourage for ourself, our ships, and men. 100 

Cleon. The which when any shall not gratify. 
Or pay you with unthankfulness in thought, 
Be it our wives, our children, or ourselves, 
The curse of heaven and men succeed their evils ! 
Till when — the which I hope shall ne'er be seen — 
Your grace is welcome to our town and us. 

Pericles. Which welcome we '11 accept ; feast here 
awhile 
Until our stars that frown lend us a smile. [Exeunt. 




Pericles and the Fishermen 



ACT II 

Enter Gower 

Gower. Here have you seen a mighty king 
His child, I wis, to incest bring ; 
A better prince and benign lord, 
That will prove awful both in deed and word. 
Be quiet then as men should be, 
Till he hath pass'd necessity. 
I '11 show you those in troubles reign, 
Losing a mite, a mountain gain. 

51 



52 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act ii 

The good in conversation, 

To whom I give my benison, lo 

Is still at Tarsus, where each man 

Thinks all is writ he speken can, 

And, to remember what he does, 

Build his statue to make him glorious ; 

But tidings to the contrary 

Are brought your eyes, — what need speak I ? 

Dumb Show 

Enter at one door Pericles talking with Cleon ; all the 
train with them. Enter at another door a Gentle- 
man, with a letter to Pericles ; Pericles shows the 
letter to Cleon ; gives the Messenger a reward, and 
knights him. Exit Pericles at one door, and Cleon 
at another 

Good Helicane, that stay'd at home — 

Not to eat honey like a drone 

From others' labours, though he strive 

To killen bad, keep good alive, 20 

And to fulfil his prince' desire — 

Sends word of all that haps in Tyre : 

How Thaliard came full bent with sin 

And had intent to murther him ; 

And that in Tarsus was not best 

Longer for him to make his rest. 

He, doing so, put forth to seas. 

Where when men been, there 's seldom ease ; 



Scene I] PeHcles, Prince of Tyre 53 

For now the wind begins to blow ; 

Thunder above and deeps below 30 

Make such unquiet that the ship 

Should house him safe is wrack'd and split ; 

And he, good prince, having all lost, 

By waves from coast to coast is tost. 

All perishen of man, of pelf, 

Ne aught escapen but himself ; 

Till fortune, tir'd with doing bad. 

Threw him ashore, to give him glad : 

And here he comes. What shall be next, 39 

Pardon old Gower, — this longs the text. [Exit, 



Scene I. Pentapolis. An open Place by the Seaside 

Enter Pericles, wet 

Pericles. Yet cease your ire, you angry stars of 
heaven ! 
Wind, rain, and thunder, remember, earthly man 
Is but a substance that must yield to you ; 
And I, as fits my nature, do obey you. 
Alas, the sea hath cast me on the rocks, 
Wash'd me from shore to shore, and left me breath 
Nothing to think on but ensuing death ! 
Let it suffice the greatness of your powers 
To have bereft a prince of all his fortunes ; 
And having thrown him from your watery grave, 10 

Here to have death in peace is all he '11 crave. 



54 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act il 

Enter three Fishermen 

1 Fisherman. What, ho, Pilch ! 

2 Fisherman. Ha, come and bring away the nets ! 
I Fisherman. What, Patch-breech, I say ! 

3 Fishertnan. What say you, master ? 

I Fisherman. Look how thou stirrest now ! come 
away, or I '11 fetch thee with a wanion. 

3 Fisherman. Faith, master, I am thinking of the 
poor men that were cast away before us even 
now. 2o 

I Fisherman. Alas, poor souls, it grieved my heart 
to hear what pitiful cries they made to us to help 
them, when, well-a-day, we could scarce help our- 
selves. 

3 Fisherman. Nay, master, said not I as much 
when I saw the porpus how he bounced and tum- 
bled ? they say they 're half fish, half flesh ; a plague 
on them, they ne'er come but I look to be washed. 
Master, I marvel how the fishes live in the sea. 29 

I Fisherman. Why, as men do a-land ; the great 
ones eat up the little ones. I can compare our rich 
misers to nothing so fitly as to a whale ; a' plays and 
tumbles, driving the poor fry before him, and at last 
devours them all at a mouthful. Such whales have 
I heard on o' the land, who never leave gaping till 
they 've swallowed the whole parish, church, steeple, 
bells, and all. 

Pericles. \Aside'\ A pretty moral. 



Scene I] Pericles, Prince of Tyre 55 

3 Fisherman. But, master, if I had been the 
sexton, I would have been that day in the belfry. 

2 Fisherman. Why, man ? 41 

3 Fisherman. Because he should have swallowed 
me too ; and when I had been in his belly, I would 
have kept such a jangling of the bells that he should 
never have left till he cast bells, steeple, church, and 
parish, up again. But if the good King Simonides 
were of my mind, — 

Pericles. [Aside] Simonides ! 

3 Fisherman. We would purge the land of these 
drones that rob the bee of her honey. 50 

Pericles. [Aside] How from the finny subject of the 
sea 
These fishers tell the infirmities of men, 
i\nd from their watery empire recollect 
All that may men approve or men detect ! — 
Peace be at your labour, honest fishermen. 

2 Fisherman. Honest! good fellow, what's that? 
If it be a day fits you, search out of the calendar, 
and nobody look after it. 

Pericles. You may see the sea hath cast me on your 
coast. 

2 Fisherman. What a drunken knave was the sea 
to cast thee in our way ! 61 

Pericles. A man whom both the waters and the wind, 
In that vast tennis-court, hath made the ball 
For them to play upon, entreats you pity him ; 
He asks of you that never us'd to beg. 



56 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act 11 

1 Fisherman. No, friend, cannot you beg? Here 's 
them in our country of Greece gets more with begging 
than we can do with working. 

2 Fisherman. Canst thou catch any fishes then ? 
Pericles. I never practis'd it. 70 
2 Fisherman. Nay, then thou wilt starve, sure ; for 

here 's nothing to be got now-a-days unless thou 
canst fish for 't. 

Pericles. What I have been I have forgot to know, 
But what I am want teaches me to think on, — 
A man throng'd up with cold ; my veins are chill, 
And have no more of life than may suffice 
To give my tongue that heat to ask your help, 
Which if you shall refuse, when I am dead, 
For that I am a man, pray see me buried. 80 

1 Fisherman. Die, quoth-a ? Now gods forbid ! 
I have a gown here ; come, put it on ; keep thee 
warm. Now, afore me, a handsome fellow ! Come, 
thou shalt go home, and we '11 have flesh for holi- 
days, fish for fasting-days, and moreo'er puddings 
and flapjacks, and thou shalt be welcome. 

Pericles. I thank you, sir. 

2 Fisherman. Hark you, my friend ; you said you 
could not beg. 

Pericles. I did but crave. 90 

2 Fisherman. But crave ! Then I will turn craver 

too, and so I shall scape whipping. 

Pericles. Why, are all your beggars whipped 

then? 



Scene I] Pericles, Prince of Tyre 57 

2 Fisherman. O, not all, my friend, not all ; for if 
all your beggars were whipped, I would wish no 
better office than to be beadle. — But, master, I '11 
go draw up the net. [Exeunt with Third Fisherman. 

Pedicles. [Aside] How well this honest mirth be- 
comes their labour ! 

I Fisherman. Hark you, sir, do you know where 
ye are ? loi 

Pericles. Not well. 

I Fisherman. Why, I '11 tell you : this is called 
Pentapolis, and our king the good Simonides. 

Pericles. The good King Simonides, do you call 
him? 

I Fisherman. Ay, sir ; and he deserves so to be 
called for his peaceable reign and good govern- 
ment. 

Pericles. He is a happy king, since he gains from 
his subjects the name of good by his government. 
How far is his court distant from this shore ? 112 

I Fishei'man. Marry, sir, half a day's journey ; 
and I '11 tell you, he hath a fair daughter, and to- 
morrow is her birth-day, and there are princes and 
knights come from all parts of the world to just and 
tourney for her love. 

Pericles. Were my fortunes equal to my desires, I 
could wish to make one there. 

I Fisherinan. O, sir, things must be as they may ; 
and what a man cannot get, he may lawfully deal 
for . . . his wife's soul. 122 



J 8 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act ii 

Re-enter Second and Third Fisherman, drawing up a 

net 

2 Fisherman, Help, master, help ! here 's a fish 
hangs in the net, like a poor man's right in the law ; 
't will hardly come out. Ha ! bots on 't, 't is come 
at last, and 't is turned to a rusty armour. 

Pericles. An armour, friends ! I pray you, let me 
see it. — 
Thanks, Fortune, yet, that, after all thy crosses. 
Thou giv'st me somewhat to repair myself ; 
And though it was mine own, part of my heritage, 
Which my dead father did bequeath to me, 131 

With this strict charge, even as he left his life, 
' Keep it, my Pericles ; it hath been a shield 
'Twixt me and death ; ' — and pointed to this brace — 
' For that it sav'd me, keep it ; in like necessity — 
The which the gods protect thee from ! — 't may de- 
fend thee.' 
It kept where I kept, I so dearly lov'd it. 
Till the rough seas, that spare not any man. 
Took it in rage, though calm'd have given 't again. . 
I thank thee for 't ; my shipwrack now 's no ill, 140 

Since I have here my father's gift in 's will. 

I Fisherman. What mean you, sir ? 

Pericles. To beg of you, kind friends, this coat of 
worth, 
For it was sometime target to a king ; 
I know it by this mark. He lov'd me dearly, 



Scene I] Pericles, Prince of Tyre 59 

And for his sake I wish the having of it, 

And that you'd guide me to your sovereign's court, 

Where with it I may appear a gentleman ; 

And if that ever my low fortune 's better, 149 

I '11 pay your bounties, till then rest your debtor. 

I Fisherman. Why, wilt thou tourney for the lady ? 

Pericles. I '11 show the virtue I have borne in arms. 

1 Fisherman. Why, do 'e take it, and the gods 
give thee good on 't ! 

2 Fisherma?!. Ay, but hark you, my friend, 't was 
we that made up this garment through the rough 
seams of the waters ; there are certain condolements, 
certain vails. I hope, sir, if you thrive, you '11 re- 
member from whence you had it. 

Pericles. Believe 't, I will. 160 

By your furtherance I am cloth 'd in steel ; 
And, spite of all the rapture of the sea, 
This jewel holds his building on my arm. 
Unto thy value I will mount myself 
Upon a courser, whose delightful steps 
Shall make the gazer joy to see him tread. 
Only, my friend, I yet am unprovided 
Of a pair of bases. 

2 Fisherman. We '11 sure provide ; thou shalt 
have my best gown to make thee a pair, and I '11 
bring thee to the court myself. 171 

Pericles. Then honour be but a goal to my will. 
This day I '11 rise, or else add ill to ill. \Exeunt. 



6o Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act ii 

Scene II. The Same. A Platform leading to the Lists. 

A Pavilion near it for the reception of the King, 
Princess, Lords, etc. 

Enter Simonides, Thaisa, Lords, and Attendants 

Simonides. Are the knights ready to begin the 
triumph ? 

I Lord. They are, my liege, 
And stay your coming to present themselves. 

Simo7iides. Return them we are ready ; and our 
daughter, 
In honoijr of whose birth these triumphs are, 
Sits here, like beauty's child, whom nature gat 
For men to see, and seeing wonder at. \Exit a Lord. 

Thaisa. It pleaseth you, my royal father, to express 
My commendations great, whose merit 's less. 

Simonides. It 's fit it should be so ; for princes are 
A model which heaven makes like to itself. n 

As jewels lose their glory if neglected. 
So princes their renowns if not respected. 
'T is now your honour, daughter, to interpret 
The labour of each knight in his device. 

Thaisa. Which, to preserve mine honour, I '11 per- 
form. 

Enter a Knight ; he passes over, and his Squire pre- 
sents his shield to the Princess 

Simonides. Who is the first that doth prefer himself? 
Thaisa. A knight of Sparta, my renowned father, 



Scene II] Pericles, Prince of Tyre 6i 

And the device he bears upon his shield 

Is a black Ethiope reaching at the sun ; 20 

The word, ' Lux tua vita mihi.' 

Simonides. He loves you well that holds his life for 
you. \The Second Knight passes over. 

Who is the second that presents himself ? 

Thaisa. A prince of Macedon, my royal father, 
And the device he bears upon his shield 
Is an arm'd knight that 's conquer'd by a lady ; 
The motto thus, in Spanish, ' Piu por dulzura que por 
fuerza.' \T^^ Third Knight passes over. 

Simonides. And what 's the third ? 
Thaisa. The third of Antioch, 

And his device, a wreath of chivalry ; 
The word, ' Me pompae provexit apex.' 30 

\The Fourth Knight passes over, 
Simonides. What is the fourth ? 

Thaisa. A burning torch that 's turned upside down ; 
The word, ' Quod me alit me extinguit.' 

Simonides. Which shows that beauty hath his power 
and will, 
Which can as well inflame as it can kill. 

\The Fifth Knight passes over. 
Thaisa. The fifth, an hand environed with clouds, 
Holding out gold that 's by the touchstone tried ; 
The motto thus, ' Sic spectanda fides.' 

\The Sixth Knight, Pericles, passes over. 
Simonides. And what 's 
The sixth and last, the which the knight himself 40 



62 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act ii 

With such a graceful courtesy deliver'd ? 

Thaisa. He seems to be a stranger, but his present is 
A wither'd branch that 's only green at top ; 
The motto, ' In hac spe vivo.' 

Simonides. A pretty moral ; 
From the dejected state wherein he is, 
He hopes by you his fortunes yet may flourish. 

1 Lord. He had need mean better than his outward 

show 
Can any way speak in his just commend ; 
For by his rusty outside he appears 50 

To have practis'd more the whipstock than the lance. 

2 Lord. He well may be a stranger, for he comes 
To an honour'd triumph strangely furnished. 

3 Lord. And on set purpose let his armour rust 
Until this day, to scour it in the dust. 

Simonides. Opinion 's but a fool, that makes us scan 
The outward habit by the inw^ard man. 
But stay, the knights are coming ; we will withdraw 
Into the gallery. S^Exeunt. 

[ Great shouts within^ and all cry ' The mean knight ! ' 

Scene III. The Same. A Hall of State : a Banquet 

prepared 

Enter Simonides, Thaisa, Lords, Knights, ^;/^ Attend- 
ants 

Simonides. Knights, 
To say you 're welcome were superfluous. 



Scene III] Pericles, Prince of Tyre 6^ 

To place upon the volume of your deeds, 
As in a title-page, your worth in arms, 
Were more than you expect, or more than 's fit, 
Since every worth in show commends itself. 
Prepare for mirth, for mirth becomes a feast; 
You are princes and my guests. 

Thais a. But you, my knight and guest, 
To whom this wreath of victory I give, lo 

And crown you king of this day's happiness. 

Pericles. 'T is more by fortune, lady, than by merit. 

Simonides. Call it by what you will, the day is yours ; 
And here, I hope, is none that envies it. 
In framing an artist, art hath thus decreed, 
To make some good, but others to exceed ; 
And you are her labour'd scholar. — Come, queen o' the 

feast, — 
For, daughter, so you are, — here take your place ; 
Marshal the rest, as they deserve their grace. 

Knights. We are honour'd much by good Simonides. 

Simonides. Your presence glads our days ; honour we 
love, 21 

For who hates honour hates the gods above. 

Marshal. Sir, yonder is your place. 

Pericles. Some other is more fit. 

I Knight. Contend not, sir ; for we are gentlemen 
That neither in our hearts nor outward eyes 
Envy the great nor do the low despise. 

Pericles. You are right courteous knights. 

Simonides. Sit, sir, sit. — 



64 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act 11 

By Jove, I wonder, that is king of thoughts, 
These cates resist me, he not thought upon. 

Thaisa. By Juno, that is queen of marriage, 30 

All viands that I eat do seem unsavoury, 
Wishing him my meat. — Sure, he 's a gallant gentleman. 

Simonides, He 's but a country gentleman, 
Has done no more than other knights have done, 
Has broken a staif or so ; so let it pass. 

Thaisa. To me he seems like diamond to glass. 

Pericles. Yon king 's to me like to my father's picture, 
Which tells me in that glory once he was. 
Had princes sit, like stars, about his throne. 
And he the sun, for them to reverence. 40 

None that beheld him but, like lesser lights, 
Did vail their crowns to his supremacy. 
Where now his son 's like a glow-worm in the night, 
The which hath fire in darkness, none in light ; 
Whereby I see that Time 's the king of men. 
For he 's their parent, and he is their grave. 
And gives them what he will, not what they crave. 

Simonides. What, are you merry, knights ? 

Knights. Who can be other in this royal presence ? 

Simonides. Here, with a cup that 's stor'd unto the 
brim, — 50 

As you do love, fill to your mistress' lips, — 
We drink this health to you. 

Knights. We thank your grace. 

Simonides. Yet pause awhile ; 
Yon knight doth sit too melancholy, 



Scene III] Pericles, Prince of Tyre 65 

As if the entertainment in our court 

Had not a show might countervail his worth. — 

Note it not you, Thaisa ? 

Thaisa. What is it 

To me, my father ? 

Simonides. O, attend, my daughter: 

Princes in this should live like gods above, 
Who freely give to every one that comes 60 

To honour them ; 

And princes not doing so are like to gnats. 
Which make a sound, but kill'd are wonder'd at. 
Therefore to make his entrance more sweet. 
Here, say we drink this standing-bowl of wine to him. 

Thaisa. Alas, my father, it befits not me 
Unto a stranger knight to be so bold. 
He may my proffer take for an offence. 
Since men take women's gifts for impudence. 

Simonides. How ? 70 

Do as I bid you, or you '11 move me else. 

Thaisa. \_Aside\ Now, by the gods, he could not 
please me better. 

Simonides. And furthermore tell him, we desire to 
know of him. 
Of whence he is, his name and parentage. 

Thaisa. The king my father, sir, has drunk to you. 

Pericles. I thank him. 

Thaisa. Wishing it so much blood unto your life. 

Pericles. I thank both him and you, and pledge him 
freely. 

PERICLES — 5 



66 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act n 

Thaisa, And further he desires to know of you, 
Of whence you are, your name and parentage. 80 

Pericles. A gentleman of Tyre ; my name, Pericles. 
My education been in arts and arms, 
Who, looking for adventures in the world, 
Was by the rough seas reft of ships and men, 
And after shipwrack driven upon this shore. 

Thaisa. He thanks your grace, names himself Pericles, 
A gentleman of Tyre, 
Who only by misfortune of the seas 
Bereft of ships and men, cast on this shore. 

Simonides. Now, by the gods, I pity his misfortune, 
And will awake him from his melancholy. — 91 

Come, gentlemen, we sit too long on trifles, 
And waste the time, which looks for other revels. 
Even in your armours, as you are address'd, 
Will very w^ell become a soldier's dance. 
I will not have excuse, with saying this 
Loud music is too harsh for ladies' heads, 
Since they love men in arms as well as beds. — 

\The Knights dance. 
So, this was well ask'd, 't was so well perform 'd. — 
Come, sir, 100 

Here is a lady that wants breathing too ; 
And I have heard, you knights of Tyre 
Are excellent in making ladies trip. 
And that their measures are as excellent. 

Pericles. In those that practise them they are, my 
lord. 



Scene IV] Pericles, Prince of Tyre 67 

Simonides. O, that 's as much as you would be denied 
Of your fair courtesy. — [ The Knights and Ladies dance. 

Unclasp, unclasp. 
Thanks, gentlemen, to all ; all have done well, — 
\_To Pericles] But you the best. — Pages and lights, to 

conduct 
These knights unto their several lodgings ! — [To 
Pericles'] Yours, sir, nc 

We have given order to be next our own. 
Pericles. I am at your grace's pleasure. 
Simonides. Princes, it is too late to talk of love, 
And that 's the mark I know you level at. 
Therefore each one betake him to his rest ; 
To-morrow all for speeding do their best. \_Exeunt. 

Scene IV. Tyre. A Room in the Governor's House 

Enter Helicanus and Escanes 

Helicanus. No, Escanes, know this of me, 
Antiochus from incest liv'd not free. 
For which the most high gods not minding longer 
To withhold the vengeance that they had in store. 
Due to the heinous capital offence, 
Even in the height and pride of all his glory. 
When he was seated in a chariot 
Of an inestimable value, and his daughter with him, 
A fire from heaven came and shrivell'd up 
Their bodies, even to loathing ; for they so stunk 10 
That all those eyes ador'd them ere their fall 



68 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act ii 

Scorn now their hand should give them burial. 

Escafies. 'T was very strange. 

Helicanus, And yet but justice, for though 

This king were great, his greatness was no guard 
To bar heaven's shaft, but sin had his reward. 

Escanes. 'T is very true. 

Enter two or three Lords 

1 Lord. See, not a man in private conference 
Or council has respect with him but he. 

2 Lord. It shall no longer grieve without reproof. 

3 Lord. And curs'd be he that will not second it. 20 
I Lord. Follow me, then. — Lord Helicane, a word. 
Helicanus. With me ? and welcome. — - Happy day, 

my lords. 
I Lord. Know that our griefs are risen to the top, 
And now at length they overflow their banks. 

He lie amis. Your griefs ! for what ? wrong not your 
prince you love. 

1 Lord. Wrong not yourself, then, noble Helicane ; 
But if the prince do live, let us salute him. 

Or know what ground 's made happy by his breath. 

If in the world he live, we '11 seek him out ; 

If in his grave he rest, we '11 find him there, 30 

And be resolv'd he lives to govern us, 

Or, dead, give 's cause to mourn his funeral. 

And leave us to our free election. 

2 Lord. Whose death indeed 's the strongest in our 

censure ; 



Scene IV] Pericles, Prince of Tyre 69 

And knowing this kingdom is without a head, — 
Like goodly buildings left without a roof 
Soon fall to ruin, — your noble self. 
That best know how to rule and how to reign, 
We thus submit unto, — our sovereign. 

All. Live, noble Helicane ! 40 

Helicanus. For honour's cause, forbear your suf- 
frages ; 
If that you love Prince Pericles, forbear. 
Take I your wish, I leap into the seas. 
Where 's hourly trouble for a minute's ease. 
A twelvemonth longer, let me entreat you 
To forbear the absence of your king, 
If in which time expir'd he not return, 
I shall with aged patience bear your yoke. 
But if I cannot win you to this love, 
Go search like nobles, like noble subjects, 50 

And in your search spend your adventurous worth, 
Whom if you find and win unto return, 
You shall like diamonds sit about his crown. 

I Lord. To wisdom he 's a fool that will not yield ; 
And since Lord Helicane enjoineth us, 
W^e with our travels will endeavour it. 

Helicanus. Then you love us, we you, and we '11 clasp 
hands ; 
When peers thus knit, a kingdom ever stands. 

\_Exeunt. 



70 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act II 

Scene V. 'Pentapolis. A Room in the Palace 
Enter Simonides, 7'eading a letter ; the Knights meet him 

1 Knight. Good morrow to the goo^ Simonides. 
Simonides. Knights, from my daughter this I let you 

know, 
That for this twelvemonth she '11 not undertake 
A married life. 

Her reason to herself is only known, 
Which yet from her by no means can I get. 

2 Knight. May we not get access to her, my lord ? 
Simonides. Faith, by no means ; she hath so strictly 

tied 
Her to her chamber that 't is impossible. 
One twelve moons more she '11 wear Diana's livery ; lo 
This by the eye of Cynthia hath she vow'd, 
And on her virgin honour will not break it. 

3 Knight. Loath to bid farewell, we take our leaves. 

\_Exetint Knights. 
Simonides. So, 
They are well dispatch'd ; now to my daughter's letter. 
She tells me here, she '11 wed the stranger knight, 
Or never more to view nor day nor light. 
'T is well, mistress, your choice agrees with mine ; 
I like that well. Nay, how absolute she 's in 't, 
Not minding whether I dislike or no ! 20 

Well, I do commend her choice. 
And will no longer have it be delay'd. — 
Soft ! here he comes ; I must dissemble it. 



Scene V] Pericles, Prince of Tyre 71 

Enter Pericles 

Pericles. All fortune to the good Simonides ! 

Simonides. To you as much, sir ! I am beholding to 
you 
For your sweet music this last night ; I do 
Protest, my ears were never better fed 
With such delightful pleasing harmony. 

Pericles. It is your grace's pleasure to commend, 
Not my desert. 

Simonides. Sir, you are music's master. 30 

Pericles. The worst of all her scholars, my good 
lord. 

Simonides. Let me ask you one thing : 
What do you think of my daughter, sir ? 

Pericles. A most virtuous princess. 

Simonides. And she is fair too, is she not? 

Pericles. As a fair day in summer, wondrous fair. 

Simonides. Sir, my daughter thinks very well of you. 
Ay, so well that you must be her master. 
And she will be your scholar ; therefore look to it. 

Pericles. I am unworthy for her schoolmaster. 40 

Simonides. She thinks not so ; peruse this writing- 
else. 

Pericles. [Aside] What 's here ? 
A letter that she loves the knight of Tyre ! 
'T is the king's subtility to have my life. — 
O, seek not to entrap me, gracious lord, 
A stranger and distressed gentleman. 



72 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act H 

That never aim'd so high to love your daughter, 
But bent all offices to honour her. 

Simonides. Thou hast bewitch 'd my daughter, and 
thou art 
A villain. 50 

Pericles. By the gods, I have not ; 
Never did thought of mine levy offence, 
Nor never did my actions yet commence 
A deed might gain her love or your displeasure. 

Simonides, Traitor, thou liest. 

Pericles. Traitor ! 

Simonides. Ay, traitor. 

Pericles. Even in his throat — unless it be the king — 
That calls me traitor, I return the lie. 

Simonides. [Aside] Now, by the gods, I do applaud 
his courage. 

Pericles. My actions are as noble as my thoughts. 
That never relish'd of a base descent. 60 

I came unto your court for honour's cause, 
And not to be a rebel to her state ; 
And he that otherwise accounts of me, 
This sword shall prove he 's honour's enemy. 

Simonides. No ? — 
Here comes my daughter, she can witness it. 

Enter Thaisa 

Pericles. Then, as you are as virtuous as fair, 
Resolve your angry father if my tongue 
Did e'er solicit or my hand subscribe 



Scene vj Pericles, Prince of Tyre 73 

To any syllable that made love to you. 70 

Thaisa. Why, sir, say if you had, 
Who takes offence at that would make me glad ? 

Simonides. Yea, mistress, are you so peremptory ? — 
\Aside\ I am glad on 't with all my heart. — 
I '11 tame you ; I '11 bring you in subjection. 
Will you, not having my consent. 
Bestow your love and your affections 
Upon a stranger ? \aside\ who, for aught I know, 
May be, nor can I think the contrary. 
As great in blood as I myself. — 80 

Therefore hear you, mistress ; either frame 
Your will to mine, — and you, sir, hear you, 
Either be rul'd by me, or I will make you — 
Man and wife. — 

Nay, come, your hands and lips must seal it too ; 
And being join'd, I '11 thus your hopes destroy ; 
And for a further grief, — God give you joy ! — 
What, are you both pleas 'd ? 

Thaisa. Yes, if you love me, sir. 

Pericles. Even as my life, or blood that fosters it 

Simonides. What, are you both agreed ? 90 

Both. Yes, if it please your majesty. 

Simonides. It pleaseth me so well that I will see you 
wed ; 
And then, with what haste you can, get you to bed. 

[^Exeunt. 




The Shipwreck (Scene 2) 



ACT III 

Enter Gower 



Gower. Now sleep yslaked hath the rout ; 
No din but snores the house about, 
Made louder by the o'er-fed breast 
Of this most pompous marriage-feast. 
The cat, with eyne of burning coal, 
Now couches fore the mouse's hole ; 
And crickets sing at the oven's mouth, 
E'er the blither for their drouth. 
Hymen hath brought the bride to bed, 
Where, by the loss of maidenhead, 
A babe is moulded. Be attent, 

74 



10 



Act III] Pericles, Prince of Tyre 75 

And time that is so briefly spent 

With your fine fancies quaintly eche ; 

What 's dumb in show I '11 plain with speech. 



Dumb Show 

Enter Pericles and Simonides with Attendants ; a 
Messenger meets them, kneels^ and gives Pericles a 
letter ; Pericles shows it Simonides ; the Lords 
kneel to him. Then enter Thaisa 7mth child ^ and 
Lychorida. The King shows his daughter the 
letter ; she rejoices : she and Pericles take leave of 
her father, and depart with Lychorida and their 
Attendants. Then exeunt Simonides and the rest 

By many a dern and painful perch 

Of Pericles the careful search, 

By the four opposing coigns 

Which the world together joins, * 

Is made with all due diligence 

That horse and sail and high expense 20 

Can stead the quest. At last from Tyre, 

Fame answering the most strange inquire, 

To the court of King Simonides 

Are letters brought, the tenor these : 

Antiochus and his daughter dead ; 

The men of Tyrus on the head 

Of Helicanus would set on 

The crown of Tyre, but he will none. 

The mutiny he there hastes t' oppress, 



76 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act iii 

Says to 'em, if King Pericles 30 

Come not home in twice six moons, 

He, obedient to their dooms. 

Will take the crown. The sum of this, 

Brought hither to Pentapolis, 

Yravished the regions round. 

And every one with claps can sound, 

' Our heir-apparent is a king ! 

Who dream'd, who thought of such a thing ? ' 

Brief, he must hence depart to Tyre ; 

His queen with child makes her desire — 40 

Which who shall cross ? — along to go. 

Omit we all their dole and woe ; 

Lychorida, her nurse, she takes. 

And so to sea. Their vessel shakes 

On Neptune's billow ; half the flood 

Hath their keel cut ; but fortune's mood 

Varies again ; the grisly north 

Disgorges such a tempest forth 

That, as a duck for life that dives. 

So up and down the poor ship drives. 50 

The lady shrieks, and well-a-near 

Does fall in travail with her fear ; 

And what ensues in this fell storm 

Shall for itself itself perform. 

I nill relate, action may 

Conveniently the rest cdnvey, 

Which might not what by me is told. 

In your imagination hold 



Scene IJ Pericles, Prince of Tyre 77 

This stage the ship, upon whose deck 59 

The sea-tost Pericles appears to speak [Exit 



Scene I 

Enter Pericles, on shipboard 

Pericles. Thou god of this great vast, rebuke these 
surges 
Which wash both heaven and hell ; and thou, that hast 
Upon the winds command, bind them in brass. 
Having call'd them from the deep ! O, still 
Thy deafening, dreadful thunders ; gently quench 
Thy nimble, sulphurous flashes ! O, how, Lychorida, 
How does my queen ? — Thou stormest venomously ; 
Wilt thou spet all thyself ? The seaman's whistle 
Is as a whisper in the ears of death, 
Unheard. — Lychorida ! — Lucina, O 10 

Divinest patroness, and midwife gentle 
To those that cry by night, convey thy deity 
Aboard our dancing boat ; make swift the pangs 
Of my queen's travail ! — 

Enter Lychorida, with an Infant 

Now, Lychorida ! 

Lychorida. Here is a thing too young for such a place, 
Who, if it had conceit, would die, as I 
Am like to do. Take in your arms this piece 
Of your dead queen. 

Pericles. How, how, Lychorida ! 



7 8 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act ill 

Lychorida. Patience, good sir ; do not assist the storm. 
Here 's all that is left living of your queen, 20 

A little daughter ; for the sake of it, 
Be manly and take comfort. 

Pericles. O you gods ! 

Why do you make us love your goodly gifts, 
And snatch them straight away ? We here below 
Recall not what we give, and therein may 
Vie honour with you. 

Lychorida. Patience, good sir, 

Even for this charge. 

Perichs. Now, mild may be thy life! 

For a more boisterous birth had never babe ; 
Quiet and gentle thy conditions \ for 
Thou art the rudeliest welcome to this world 30 

That ever was prince's child. Happy what follows ! 
Thou hast as chiding a nativity 
As fire, air, water, earth, and heaven can make. 
To herald thee from the womb ; even at the first 
Thy loss is more than can thy portage quit, 
With all thou canst find here. — Now, the good gods 
Throw their best eyes upon 't ! 

Enter two Sailors 

I Sailor. What courage, sir ? God save you ! 

Pericles. Courage enough ; I do not fear the flaw. 
It hath done to me the worst. Yet, for the love 40 

Of this poor infant, this fresh-new sea-farer, 
I would it would be quiet. 



Scene I] Pericles, Prince of Tyre 79 

1 Sailor. Slack the bolins there ! — Thou wilt not, 
wilt thou ? Blow, and split thyself. 

2 Sailor. But sea-room, an the brine and cloudy 
billow kiss the moon, I care not. 

I Sailor. Sir, your queen must overboard ; the sea 
works high, the wind is loud, and will not lie till the 
ship be cleared of the dead. 

Pericles. That 's your superstition. 50 

I Sailor. Pardon us, sir ; with us at sea it hath 
been still observed, and we are strong in custom. 
Therefore briefly yield her, for she must overboard 
straight. 

Pericles. As you think meet. — Most wretched 
queen ! 

Lychorida. Here she lies, sir. 

Pericles. A terrible childbed hast thou had, my 
dear : 
No light, no fire ; the unfriendly elements 
Forgot thee utterly ; nor have I time 
To give thee hallow 'd to the grave, but straight 60 

Must cast thee, scarcely coffin'd, in the ooze, 
Where, for a monument upon thy bones. 
And aye-remaining lamps, the belching whale 
And humming water must o'erwhelm thy corpse, 
Lying with simple shells. — O Lychorida, 
Bid Nestor bring me spices, ink and paper, 
My casket and my jewels ; and bid Nicander 
Bring me the satin coffer ; lay the babe 
Upon the pillow. Hie thee, whiles I say 



8o Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act ill 

A priestly farewell to her ; suddenly, woman. 

\_Exit Lychorida. 

2 Sailor. Sir, we have a chest beneath the hatches, 
caulked and bitumed ready. 72 

Pedicles. I thank thee. Mariner, say what coast is 
this? 

2 Sailor. We are near Tarsus. 

Pericles. Thither, gentle mariner, 
Alter thy course for Tyre. When canst thou reach it ? 

2 Sailor. By break of day, if the wind cease. 

Pericles. O, make for Tarsus ! — 
There will I visit Cleon, for the babe 
Cannot hold out to Tyrus ; there I '11 leave it 80 

At careful nursing. — Go thy ways, good mariner ; 
I '11 bring the body presently. [^Exeunt. 

Scene II. Ephesus. A Room in Cerimofi's House 

Enter Cerimon, with a Servant, a7id so??ie shipwrecked 

Persons 

Cerimon. Philemon, ho ! 

Enter Philemon 

Philemon. Doth my lord call ? 

Cerimon. Get fire and meat for these poor men ; 
'T has been a turbulent and stormy night. 

Servant. I have been in many ; but such a night as 
this 
Till now I ne'er endur'd. 



Scene II] Pericles, Prince of Tyre 8i 

Cerimon. Your master will be dead ere you return ; 
There 's nothing can be minister'd to nature 
That can recover him. — \To Philemon] Give this to 

the pothecary, 
And tell me how it works. [Exettnt all but Cerimon. 

Enter two Gentlemen 

1 Gentleman. Good morrow. lo 

2 Gentleman. Good morrow to your lordship. 
Cerimon. Gentlemen, 

Why do you stir so early ? 

1 Gentleman. Sir, 

Our lodgings, standing bleak upon the sea, 
Shook as the earth did quake ; 
The very principals did seem to rend, 
And all to topple ; pure surprise and fear 
Made me to quit the house. 

2 Gentleman. That is the cause we trouble you so 

early ; 

'T is not our husbandry. 

Cerimon. O, you say well. 20 

I Gentleman. But I much marvel that your lordship, 
having 

Rich tire about you, should at these early hours 

Shake off the golden slumber of repose. 

'T is most strange 

Nature should be so conversant with pain. 

Being thereto not compell'd. 

Cerimon. I held it ever, 

PERICLES — 6 



82 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act iii 

Virtue and cunning were endowments greater 

Than nobleness and riches ; careless heirs 

May the two latter darken and expend, 

But immortality attends the former, 30 

Making a man a god. 'T is known I ever 

Have studied physic, through which secret art, 

By turning o'er authorities, I have, 

Together with my practice, made familiar 

To me and to my aid the blest infusions 

That dwell in vegetives, in metals, stones, 

And I can speak of the disturbances 

That nature works, and of her cures ; which doth give me 

A more content in course of true delight 

Than to be thirsty after tottering honour, 40 

Or tie my treasure up in silken bags. 

To please the fool and death. 

2 Gentleman. Your honour has through Ephesus 
pour'd forth 
Your charity, and hundreds call themselves 
Your creatures, who by you have been restor'd ; 
And not your knowledge, your personal pain, but even 
Your purse, still open, hath built Lord Cerimon 
Such strong renown as time shall never raze. 

Enter two or three Servants with a chest 

I Servant. So ; lift there. 
Cerimon. What is that ? 

I Servant. Sir, even now 

Did the sea toss upon our shore this chest ; 50 



Scene iij Pericles, Prince of Tyre 83 

'T is of some wrack. 

Cerimon. Set't down, let 's look upon 't. 

2 Gentleman. 'T is like a coffin, sir. 

Cerimon. Whate'er it be, 

'T is wondrous heavy. Wrench it open straight ; 
If the sea's stomach be o'ercharg'd with gold, 
'T is a good constraint of fortune it belches upon us. 

2 Gentleman. 'T is so, my lord. 

Cerimon. How close 't is caulk'd and bitum'd 1 

Did the sea cast it up ? 

1 Servant. I never saw so huge a billow, sir, 
As toss'd it upon shore. 

Cerimon. Wrench it open ; 

Soft ! it smells most sweetly in my sense. 60 

2 Gentleman. A delicate odour. 

Cerimon. As ever hit my nostril. So up with it. — 
O you most potent gods ! what 's here ? a corse ! 
I Gentleman. Most strange ! 

Cerimon. Shrouded in cloth of state, balm'd and en- 
treasur'd 
With full bags of spices ! A passport too I — 
Apollo, perfect me in the characters ! 

[Reads from a scroll 
' Here I give to understand. 
If e''er this cofin drive a-land, 
/, King Pericles, have lost 70 

This queen, worth all our mundane cost. 
Who finds her, give her burying ; 
She was the daughter of a king. 



84 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act ill 

Besides this treasure for a fee, 
The gods 7-eqiiite his charity / ' 
If thou liv'st, Pericles, thou hast a heart 
That even cracks for woe ! This chanc'd to-night. 

2 Gentleman. Most Hkely, sir. 

Cerimon. Nay, certainly to-night ; 

For look how fresh she looks ! They were too rough 
That threw her in the sea. — Make a fire within ; 80 
Fetch hither all my boxes in my closet. — \Exita Servant. 
Death may usurp on nature many hours, 
And yet the fire of life kindle again 
The o'erpress'd spirits. I heard of an Egyptian 
That had nine hours lien dead, 
Who was by good appliance recovered. — 

Re-enter a Servant, with boxes, fiapkitis^ and fire 

Well said, well said ; the fire and cloths. — 

The rough and woeful music that we have. 

Cause it to sound, beseech you. — 

The vial once more. — How thou stirr'st, thou block! — 

The music there ! — I pray you, give her air. — 91 

Gentlemen, 

This queen will live ; nature awakes, a warmth 

Breathes out of her. She hath not been entranc'd 

Above five hours ; see how she gins to blow 

Into life's flower again ! 

I Gentleman. The heavens 

Through you increase our wonder and set up 
Your fame for ever. 



Scene III] Pericles, Prince of Tyre 85 

Cerimon. She is alive ; behold, 

Her eyelids, cases to those heavenly jewels 
Which Pericles hath lost, 100 

Begin to part their fringes of bright gold ; 
The diamonds of a most praised water 
Do appear, to make the world twice rich. — Live, 
And make us weep to hear your fate, fair creature, 
Rare as you seem to be. [She moves. 

Thaisa. O dear Diana, 

Where am I ? Where 's my lord ? What world is this ? 

2 Gentleman. Is not this strange ? 

I Gentleman. Most rare. 

Cerimon. Hush, my gentle neighbours ! 

Lend me your hands ; to the next chamber bear her. 
Get linen ; now this matter must be look'd to, 
For her relapse is mortal. Come, come ; no 

And ^sculapius guide us ! 

[Exeunt, carrying her away. 



Scene III. Tarsus. A Room in Cleon''s House 

Enter Pericles, Cleon, Dionyza, and Lychorida 
with Marina in her arms 

Pericles. Most honour 'd Cleon, I must needs be gone ; 
My twelve months are expir'd, and Tyrus stands 
In a litigious peace. You, and your lady. 
Take from my heart all thankfulness ! The gods 
Make up the rest upon you ! 



86 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act m 

Clean. Your shafts of fortune, though they hurt you 
mortally, 
Yet glance full wanderingly on us. 

Dionyza. O your sweet queen ! 

That the strict fates had pleas 'd you had brought her 

hither, 
To have bless 'd mine eyes with her ! 

Pericles. We cannot but obey 

The powers above us. Could I rage and roar lo 

As doth the sea she lies in, yet the end 
Must be as 't is. My gentle babe Marina — whom, 
For she was born at sea, I have nam'd so — here 
I charge your charity withal, leaving her 
The infant of your care ; beseeching you 
To give her princely training, that she may be 
Manner'd as she is born. 

Cleon. Fear not, my lord, but think 

Your grace, that fed my country with your corn, 
For which the people's prayers still fall upon you, 
Must in your child be thought on. If neglection 20 
Should therein make me vile, the common body, 
By you reliev'd, would force me to my duty ; 
But if to that my nature need a spur. 
The gods revenge it upon me and mine 
To the end of generation ! 

Pericles. I believe you ; 

Your honour and your goodness teach me to 't 
Without your vow. — Till she be married, madam, 
By bright Diana, whom we honour, all 



Scene IV] Pericles, Prince of Tyre 87 

Unscissar'd shall this hair of mine remain, 

Though I show ill in 't. So I take my leave. 30 

Good madam, make me blessed in your care 

In bringing up my child. • 

Dionyza. I have one myself 

Who shall not be more dear to my respect 
Than yours, my lord. 

Pericles, Madam, my thanks and prayers. 

Clean. We '11 bring your grace e'en to the edge o' 
the shore, 
Then give you up to the mask'd Neptune and 
The gentlest winds of heaven. 

Pericles. I will embrace 

Your offer. — Come, dear'st madam. — O, no tears, 
Lychorida, no tears ! 

Look to your little mistress, on whose grace 40 

You may depend hereafter. — Come, my lord. [Exeunt. 

Scene IV. Ephesus. A Room in Cerimon's House 
Enter Cerimon and Thaisa 

Cerimon. Madam, this letter, and some certain jewels. 
Lay with you in your coffer, which are now 
At your command. Know you the character ? 

Thaisa. It is my lord's. 
That I was shipp'd at sea I well remember. 
Even on my eaning time, but whether there 
Deliver'd, by the holy gods, 
I cannot rightly say. But since King Pericles, 



88 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act ill 

My wedded lord, I ne'er shall see again, 

A vestal livery will I take me to lo 

And never more have joy. 

Cerimon. Madam, if this you purpose as you speak, 
Diana's temple is not distant far, 
Where you may abide till your date expire. 
Moreover, if you please, a niece of mine 
Shall there attend you. 

Thaisa. My recompense is thanks, that 's all ; 
Yet my good will is great, though the gift small. [Exeunt. 




Marina (Scene i) 



ACT IV 

Enter Gower 

Gower. Imagine Pericles arriv'd at Tyre, 
Welcom'd and settled to his own desire. 
His woeful queen we leave at Ephesus, 
Unto Diana there a votaress. 
Now to Marina bend your mind, 
Whom our fast-growing scene must find 

89 



90 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act iv 

At Tarsus, and by Cleon train 'd 

In music, letters ; who hath gain'd 

Of education all the grace 

Which makes her both the heart and place lo 

Of general wonder. But, alack, 

That monster envy, oft the wrack 

Of earned praise, Marina's life 

Seeks to take off by treason's knife ! 

And in this kind hath our Cleon 

One daughter, and a wench full grown. 

Even ripe for marriage-rite. This maid 

Hight Philoten, and it is said 

For certain in our story she 

Would ever with Marina be ; 20 

But when she weav'd the sleided silk 

With fingers long, small, white as milk, 

Or when she would with sharp needle wound 

The cambric, which she made more sound 

By hurting it ; or when to the lute 

She sung, and made the night-bird mute 

That still records with moan ; or when 

She would with rich and constant pen 

Vail to her mistress Dian ; still 

This Philoten contends in skill 30 

With absolute Marina. So 

With the dove of Paphos might the crow 

Vie feathers white. Marina gets 

All praises, which are paid as debts. 

And not as given. This so darks 



Scene I] Fericles, Prince of Tyre 91 

In Philoten all graceful marks 

That Cleon's wife, with envy rare, 

A present murtherer does prepare 

For good Marina, that her daughter 

Might stand peerless by this slaughter. 40 

The sooner her vile thoughts to stead, 

Lychorida, our nurse, is dead ; 

And cursed Dionyza hath 

The pregnant instrument of wrath 

Prest for this blow. The unborn event 

I do commend to your content ; 

Only I carry winged time 

Post on the lame feet of my rhyme, 

Which never could I so convey 

Unless your thoughts went on my way. 50 

Dionyza does appear, 

With Leonine, a murtherer. [Exit. 



Scene I. Tarsus. An open Place near the Sea-shore 

Enter Dionyza and Leonine 

Dionyza. Thy oath remember ; thou hast sworn 
to do 't. 
'T is but a blow which never shall be known. 
Thou canst not do a thing in the world so soon. 
To yield thee so much profit. Let not conscience, 
Which is but cold, inflaming love i' thy bosom, 
Inflame too nicely ; nor let pity, which 



92 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act iv 

Even women have cast off, melt thee, but be 
A soldier to thy purpose. 

Leonine. I will do 't ; but yet she is a goodly 
creature. 9 

Dionyza. The fitter, then, the gods should have 
her. Here she comes weeping for her old nurse's 
death. Thou art resolved ? 

Leonine. I am resolved. 

Enter Marina, with a basket of flowers 

Marina. No, I will rob Tellus of her weed, 
To strew thy green with flowers ; the yellows, blues, 
The purple violets, and marigolds, 
Shall as a carpet hang upon thy grave 
While summer-days do last. — Ay me ! poor maid, 
Born in a tempest when my mother died. 
This world to me is like a lasting storm, 20 

Whirring me from my friends. 

Dionyza. How now, Marina ? why do you keep 
alone ? 
How chance my daughter is not with you ? Do not 
Consume your blood with sorrowing ; you have 
A nurse of me. Lord, how your favour 's chang'd 
With this unprofitable woe ! 

Come, give me your flowers, ere the sea mar them. 
Walk with Leonine ; the air is quick there, 
And it pierces and sharpens the stomach. — Come, 
Leonine, take her by the arm, walk with her. 30 

Marina. No, I pray you ; 



Scene I] Pericles, Prince of Tyre 93 

I '11 not bereave you of your servant. 

Dionyza. Come, come ; 

I love the king your father and yourself 
With more than foreign heart. We every day 
Expect him here ; when he shall come and find 
Our paragon to all reports thus blasted, 
He will repent the breadth of his great voyage. 
Blame both my lord and me, that we have taken 
No care to your best courses. Go, I pray you, 
Walk, and be cheerful once again ; reserve 40 

That excellent complexion, which did steal 
The eyes of young and old. Care not for me ; 
I can go home alone. 

Marina. Well, I will go, 

But yet I have no desire to it. 

Dionyza. Come, come, I know 't is good for you. — 
Walk half an hour. Leonine, at the least. 
Remember what I have said. 

Leonine. I warrant you, madam. 

Diofiyza. I '11 leave you, my sweet lady, for a while. 
Pray, walk softly, do not heat your blood ; 
What ! I must have a care of you. 

Marina. My thanks, sweet madam. — 

\_Exit Dionyza. 
Is this wind westerly that blows ? 

Leonine. South-west. 51 

Marina. When I was born, the wind was north. 

Leonine. Was 't so ? 

Marina. My father, as nurse said, did never fear, 



94 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act iv 

But cried ' Good seamen ! ' to the sailors, galling 
His kingly hands, haling ropes, 
And, clasping to the mast, endur'd a sea 
That almost burst the deck. 

Leonine. When was this ? 

Marina. When I was born. 
Never was waves nor wind more violent ; 60 

And from the ladder-tackle washes off 
A canvas-climber. ' Ha ! ' says one, ' wilt out 1 ' 
And with a dropping industry they skip 
From stem to stern ; the boatswain whistles, and 
The master calls and trebles their confusion. 

Leonine. Come, say your prayers. 

Marina. What mean you ? 

Leonine. If you require a little space for prayer, 
I grant it ; pray, but be not tedious, 
For the gods are quick of ear and I am sworn 70 

To do my work with haste. 

Marina. Why will you kill me ? 

Leonine. To satisfy my lady. 

Marina. Why would she have me kill'd ? 
Now, as I can remember, by my troth, 
I never did her hurt in all my life ; 
I never spake bad v/ord, nor did ill turn 
To any living creature ; believe me, la, 
I never kill'd a mouse nor hurt a fly. 
I trod upon a worm against my will, 
But I wept for it. How have I offended, 80 

Wherein my death might yield her any profit, 



Scene I] Pericles, Prince of Tyre 95 

Or my life imply her any danger ? 

Leonine. My commission 
Is not to reason of the deed, but do it. 

Marina. You will not do 't for all the world, I hope. 
You are well favour'd, and your looks foreshow 
You have a gentle heart. I saw you lately 
When you caught hurt in parting two that fought. 
Good sooth, it show'd well in you ; do so now. 
Your lady seeks my life ; come you between, 90 

And save poor me, the weaker. 

Leonine. I am sworn, 

And will dispatch. \He seizes her. 

Enter Pirates 

1 Pirate. Hold, villain ! \Leonine runs away. 

2 Pirate. A prize ! a prize ! 

3 Pirate. Half-part, mates, half-part ! Come, let 's 
have her aboard suddenly. 

[Exeunt Pirates with Marina. 

Re-enter Leonine 

Leonine. These roguing thieves serve the great pirate 
Valdes, 
And they have seiz'd Marina. Let her go ; 
There 's no hope she will return, I '11 swear she 's dead 
And thrown into the sea. — But I '11 see further ; 100 
Perhaps they will but please themselves upon her, 
Not carry her aboard. If she remain. 
Whom they have ravish 'd must by me be slain, \_Exit. 



96 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act IV 

Scene II. Mytilene. A Room in a Brothel 
Enter Pandar, Bawd, and Boult 

Pandar. Boult ! 

Boult. Sir ? 

Pandar. Search the market narrowly ; Mytilene 
is full of gallants. We lost too much money this 
mart by being too wenchless. 

Boult. I 'II go search the market. \Exit. 

Pandar. Three or four thousand chequins were as 
pretty a proportion to live quietly, and so give over. 

Bawd. Why to give over, I pray you ? is jt a shame 
to get when we are old ? 10 

Pandar. O, our credit comes not in like the 
commodity, nor the commodity wages not with the 
danger; therefore, if in our youths we could pick 
up some pretty estate, 't were not amiss to keep 
our door hatched. Besides, the sore terms we 
stand upon with the gods will be strong with us 
for giving over. 

Bawd. Come, other sorts offend as well as we. 

Pandar. As well as we ! ay, and better too ; we 
offend worse. Neither is our profession any trade ; 20 
it 's no calling. But here comes Boult. 

Re-enter Boult, with the Pirates and Marina 

Bawd. [To Marina'] Come your ways. — My mas- 
ters, you say she 's a virgin ? 

I Pirate. O, sir, we doubt it not. 



Scene II] Pericles, Prince of Tyre 97 

Boult. Master, I have gone through for this piece, 
you see. If you Hke her, so ; if not, I have lost my 
earnest. 

Bawd. Boult, has she any qualities ? 

Boult. She has a good face, speaks well, and has 
excellent good clothes ; there 's no further necessity 30 
of qualities can make her be refused. 

Bawd. What 's her price, Boult ? 

Boult. I cannot be bated one doit of a thousand 
pieces. 

Bandar. Well, follow me, my masters, you shall 
have your money presently. — Wife, take her in. 

\Exeunt Boult, Bandar, and Birates. 

Marina. Alack that Leonine was so slack, so slow ! 
He should have struck, not spoke ; or that these pirates. 
Not enough barbarous, had not o'erboard thrown me 
For to seek my mother. 40 

Bawd. Why lament you, pretty one ? 

Marina. That I am pretty. 

Bawd. Come, the gods have done their part in you. 

Marina. I accuse them not. 

Bawd. You are lit into my hands, where you are 
ike to live. 

Marina. The more my fault, 
To scape his hands where I was like to die. 

Bawd. Ay, and you shall live in pleasure. 

Marina. No. 50 

Bawd. Yes, indeed shall you ; you shall fare well. 
What ! do you stop your ears ? 

PERICLES — 7 



98 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act iv 

Marina. Are you a woman ? 

Bawd. What would you have me be, an I be not 
a woman ? 

Marina. An honest woman, or not a woman. 

Bawd. Marry, whip thee, gosling ; I think I shall 
have something to do with you. Come, you 're a 
young foolish sapling, and must be bowed as I would 
have you. 60 

Marina. The gods defend me ! 

Bawd. Come your ways ; follow me. [Exeunt. 

Scene III. Tarsus. A Room in Cleon^s House 
Enter Cleon and Dionyza 

Dionyza. Why, are you foolish ? Can it be undone ? 

Cleon. O Dionyza, such a piece of slaughter 
The sun and moon ne'er look'd upon ! 

Dionyza. I think 

You '11 turn a child again. 

Cleon. Were I chief lord of all this spacious world, 
I 'd give it to undo the deed. O lady, 
Much less in blood than virtue, yet a princess 
To equal any single crown o' the earth 
I' the justice of compare ! O villain Leonine ! 
Whom thou hast poison'd too. 10 

If thou hadst drunk to him, 't had been a kindness 
Becoming well thy fact ; what canst thou say 
When noble Pericles shall demand his child ? 

Dionyza. That she is dead. Nurses are not the fates, 



Scene III] Pericles, Prince of Tyre 99 

To foster it, nor ever to preserve. 

She died at night ; I '11 say so. Who can cross it ? 

Unless you play the pious innocent, 

And for an honest attribute cry out 

' She died by foul play.' 

Clean. O, go to ! Well, well, 

Of all the faults beneath the heavens, the gods 20 

Do like this worst. 

Dionyza. Be one of those that think 

The petty wrens of Tarsus will fly hence 
And open this to Pericles. I do shame 
To think of what a noble strain you are, 
And of how coward a spirit. 

Cleon. To such proceeding 

Who ever but his approbation added, 
Though not his prime consent, he did not flow 
From honourable sources. 

Dionyza. Be it so, then ; 

Yet none does know but you how she came dead. 
Nor none can know, Leonine being gone. 30 

She did disdain my child, and stood between 
Her and her fortunes ; none would look on her, 
But cast their gazes on Marina's face, 
Whilst ours was blurted at and held a malkin 
Not worth the time of day. It pierc'd me thorough ; 
And though you call my course unnatural. 
You not your child well loving, yet I find 
It greets me as an enterprise of kindness 
Perform 'd to your sole daughter. 



lOO Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act IV 

Cleon. Heavens forgive it ! 

Dionyza, And as for Pericles, 40 

What should he say ? We wept after her hearse, 
And yet we mourn ; her monument 
Is ahnost finish 'd, and her epitaphs 
In glittering golden characters express 
A general praise to her, and care in us 
At whose expense 't is done. 

Cleon. Thou art like the harpy, 

Which, to betray, dost, with thine angel's face, 
Seize with thine eagle's talons. 

Dionyza. You are like one that superstitiously 
Doth swear to the gods that winter kills the flies ; 50 
But yet I know you '11 do as I advise. [Exeunt. 

Scene IV 

Enter Gower, before the Monument of Marina at 

Tarsus 

Gower. Thus time we waste and longest leagues 
make short, 
Sail seas in cockles, have an wish but for 't ; 
Making, to take your imagination, 
From bourn to bourn, region to region. 
By you being pardon'd, we commit no crime 
To use one language in each several clime 
Where our scenes seem to live. I do beseech you 
To learn of me, who stand i' the gaps to teach you, 
The stages of our story. Pericles 



Scene IV] Pericles, Prince of Tyre loi 

Is now again thwarting the wayward seas, lo 

Attended on by many a lord and knight, 

To see his daughter, all his life's delight. 

Old Escanes, whom Helicanus late 

Advanc'd in time to great and high estate, 

Is left to govern. Bear you it in mind, 

Old Helicanus goes along behind. 

Well-sailing ships and bounteous winds have brought 

This king to Tarsus, — think his pilot thought ; 

So with his steerage shall your thoughts grow on, — 

To fetch his daughter home, who first is gone. 20 

Like motes and shadows see them move awhile ; 

Your ears unto your eyes I '11 reconcile. 

Dumb Show 

Enter Pericles, at one door, with all his train; Cleon 
and DiONYZA, at the other. Cleon shows Pericles 
the tomb ; whereat Pericles snakes lamentation, puts 
on sackcloth, and in a mighty passion departs. Then 
exeunt Cleon and Dionyza 

See how belief may suffer by foul show ! 

This borrow'd passion stands for true old woe ; 

And Pericles, in sorrow all devour'd, 

With sighs shot through and biggest tears o'ershower'd. 

Leaves Tarsus and again embarks. He swears 

Never to wash his face, nor cut his hairs ; 

He puts on sackcloth, and to sea. He bears 

A tempest, which his mortal vessel tears, 30 



102 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act iv 

And yet he rides it out. Now please you wit 

The epitaph is for Marina writ 

By wicked Dionyza. 

[_Reads the inscription on Marina's monument. 
^ The fairest, sweefst, and best lies here, 
Who withered in her spiking of year. 
She was of Tyrus the king's daughter, 
On whom foul death hath made this slaughter. 
Marina was she calPd, and at her birth, 
Thetis, being pi'oud, swallow'' d some part o'^ the earth. 
Therefore the earth, fearing to be o''erflow''d, 40 

Hath Thetis'' bij'th-child on the heavens bestow'' d; 
Wherefore she does, and swears she ''II never stint, 
Make raging battery upon shores of fiint.^ 

No visor does become black villany 

So well as soft and tender flattery. 

Let Pericles believe his daughter 's dead, 

And bear his courses to be ordered 

By Lady Fortune ; while our scene must play 

His daughter's woe and heavy well-a-day 

In her unholy service. Patience, then, 50 

And think you now are all in Mytilene. \JSxit. 

Scene V. Mytilene. A Street before the Brothel 
Enter ^ from the brothel, two Gentlemen 

1 Gentleman. Did you ever hear the like ? 

2 Gentleman. No, nor never shall do in such a 
place as this, she being once gone. 



Scene VI] Pericles, Prince of Tyre 103 

1 Gentleman. But to have divinity preached there ! 
did you ever dream of such a thing ? 

2 Gentleman. No, no. Come, I am for no more 
bawdy-houses ; shall 's go hear the vestals sing ? 

I Gentleman. I '11 do any thing now that is vir- 
tuous. [Exeunt. 

Scene VI. The Same. A Room in the Brothel 
Enter Pandar, Bawd, and Boult 

Fandar. Well, I had rather than twice the worth 
of her she had ne'er come here. 

Bawd. Fie, fie upon her ! she has me her quirks, 
her reasons, her master reasons, her prayers, her 
knees ; that she would make a puritan of the devil, 
if he should cheapen a kiss of her. — Here comes 
the Lord Lysimachus disguised. 

Boult. We should have both lord and lown, if the 
peevish baggage would but give way to customers. 

Enter Lysimachus 

Lysimachus. How now ! How a dozen of vir- 
ginities ? II 

Bawd. Now, the gods to-bless your honour ! 

Boult. I am glad to see your honour in good health. 

Lysimachus. You may so ; 't is the better for you 
that your resorters stand upon sound legs. How now, 
wholesome iniquity ! have you that a man may deal 
withal, and defy the surgeon ? 



I04 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act iv 

Bawd. We have here one, sir, if she would — but 
there never came her Hke in Mytilene. 19 

Lysimachus. Well, call forth, call forth. \_Exit Boult. 

Bawd. For flesh and blood, sir, white and red, 
you shall see a rose ; and she were a rose indeed if 
she had but — 

Lysimachus. What, prithee ? 

Bawd. O, sir, I can be modest. — Here comes 
that which grows to the stalk; never plucked yet, 
I can assure you. 

Re-enter Boult with Marina 

Is she not a fair creature ? 

Lysimachus. Faith, she would serve after a long 
voyage at sea. Well, there 's for you ; leave us. 30 

Bawd. I beseech your honour, give me leave ; a 
word, and I '11 have done presently. 

Lysimachus. I beseech you, do. 

Bawd. [To Marinci\ First, I would have you 
note, this is an honourable man. 

Marina. I desire to find him so, that I may wor- 
thily note him. 

Bawd. Next, he 's the governor of this country, 
and a man whom I am bound to. 

Marina. If he govern the country, you are bound 
to him indeed ; but how honourable he is in that, I 
know not. 42 

Bawd. Pray you, without any more virginal fenc- 
ing, will you use him kindly ? He will line your 
apron with gold. 



Scene VI] Pericles^ Prince of Tyre 105 

Marina. What he will do graciously, I will 
thankfully receive. 

Lysiinachus. Ha' you done ? 

Bawd, Come, we will leave his honour and her 
together. Go thy ways. 50 

\_Exeunt Bawd, Fandar, and Boult, 

Marina, If you were born to honour, show it now ; 
If put upon you, make the judgment good 
That thought you worthy of it. 

Lysimachus. How 's this ? how 's this ? Some more ; 
be sage. 

Marina. For me, 

That am a maid, though most ungentle fortune 
Have plac'd me in this sty, O, that the gods 
Would set me free from this unhallow'd place. 
Though they did change me to the meanest bird 
That flies i' the purer air ! 

Lysimachus. I did not think 

Thou couldst have spoke so well, ne'er dream 'd thou 

couldst. 60 

Had I brought hither a corrupted mind, 
Thy speech had alter'd it. Hold, here 's gold for thee. 
Persever in that clear way thou goest. 
And the gods strengthen thee ! 

Marina. The good gods preserve you ! 

Lysimachus. For me, be you thoughten 
That I came with no ill intent ; for to me 
The very doors and windows savour vilely. 
Fare thee well. Thou art a piece of virtue, and 



io6 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act iv 

I doubt not but thy training hath been noble. 

Hold, here 's more gold for thee. 70 

A curse upon him, die he like a thief, 

That robs thee of thy goodness ! If thou dost 

Hear from me, it shall be for thy good. 

Re-enter Boult 

Boult. I beseech your honour, one piece for me. 

Lystmachus. Avaunt, thou damned door-keeper ! 
Your house, but for this virgin that doth drop it, 
Would sink and overwhelm you. Away ! \_Exit 

Boult. Come, mistress ; come your ways with me. 

Marina. Prithee, tell me one thing first. 

Boult. Come now, your one thing. 80 

Marina. What canst thou wish thine enemy to be ? 

Boult. Why, I could wish him to be my master, or 
rather, my mistress. 

Marina. Neither of these are so bad as thou art. 
Since they do better thee in their command. 
Thou hold'st a place for which the pained'st fiend 
Of hell would not in reputation change. 

Boult. What would you have me do ? go to the 
wars, would you ? where a man may serve seven 
years for the loss of a leg, and have not money 
enough in the end to buy him a wooden one ? 91 

Marina. Do any thing but this thou doest. Empty 
Old receptacles, or common sewers, of filth ; 
Serve by indenture to the common hangman. 
Any of these ways are yet better than this 5 



Scene VI] Pericles, Prince of Tyre 107 

For what thou professest, a baboon, could he speak, 

Would own a name too dear. O, that the gods 

Would safely deliver me from this place ! 

Here, here 's gold for thee. 

If that thy master would gain by me, 100 

Proclaim that I can sing, weave, sew, and dance, 

With other virtues, which I '11 keep from boast ; 

And I will undertake all these to teach. 

I doubt not but this populous city will 

Yield many scholars. 

Boult. Well, I will see what I can do for thee ; if 
I can place thee, I will. 

Marina. But amongst honest women. 

Boiilt. Faith, my acquaintance lies little amongst 
them. But since my master and mistress have 
bought you, there 's no" going but by their consent ; 
therefore I will make them acquainted with your 
purpose, and I doubt not but I shall find them 
tractable enough. Come, I '11 do for thee what I 
can ; come your ways. \Exeunt. 




The Altar of Diana (Scene 3) 



ACT V 



Enter Gower 

Gower. Marina thus the brothel scapes, and chances 
Into an honest house, our story says. 
She sings like one immortal, and she dances 
As goddess-like to her admired lays. 
Deep clerk she dumbs, and with her needle composes 
Nature's own shape, of bud, bird, branch, or berry, 

108 



Scene I] Pericles, Prince of Tyre 109 

That even her art sisters the natural roses, 

Her inkle, silk, twin with the rubied cherry ; 

That pupils lacks she none of noble race, 

Who pour their bounty on her, and her gain 10 

She gives the cursed bawd. Here we her place. 

And to her father turn our thoughts again 

Where we left him on the sea. We there him lost. 

Whence, driven before the winds, he is arriv'd 

Here where his daughter dwells ; and on this coast 

Suppose him now at anchor. The city striv'd 

God Neptune's annual feast to keep ; from whence 

Lysimachus our Tyrian ship espies, 

His banners sable, trimm'd with rich expense. 

And to him in his barge with fervour hies. 20 

In your supposing once more put your sight 

Of heavy Pericles ; think this his bark, 

Where what is done in action, more, if might, 

Shall be discover'd. Please you, sit and hark. {Exit. 

Scene I. On board Pericles' ship, off Mytilene. A 
close pavilion on deck, with a curtain before it ; 
Pericles within it, reclining on a couch. A barge 
lying beside the Tyrian vessel 

Enter two Sailors, one belongiitg to the Tyrian vessel, 
the other to the barge ; to them Helicanus 

Tyrian Sailor. [To the Sailor 0/ Mytilene] Where is 
lord Helicanus ? he can resolve you. 
O, here he is. — 



no Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act v 

Sir, there 's a barge put off from Mytilene, 

And in it is Lysimachus the governor, 

Who craves to come aboard. What is your will ? 

Helicanus. That he have his. Call up some gentle- 
men. 

Tyrian Sailor. Ho, gentlemen ! my lord calls. 

Enter two or three Gentlemen 

I Gentleman. Doth your lordship call ? 
HelicaniLs. Gentlemen, there 's some of worth would 
come aboard ; 
I pray ye, greet them fairly. lo 

[The Gentlemen and the two Sailors descend, 
and go on board the barge 

Enter, from thence, Lysimachus and Lords ; with the 
Gentlemen and the two Sailors 

Tyrian Sailor. Sir, 
This is the man that can, in aught you would, 
Resolve you. 

Lysimachus. Hail, reverend sir ! the gods preserve 
you ! 

Helicanus. And you, sir, to outlive the age I am, 
And die as I would do ! 

Lysimachus. You wish me well. 

Being on shore, honouring of Neptune's triumphs, 
Seeing this goodly vessel ride before us, 
I made to it, to know of whence you are. 

Helicanus. First, what is your place ? 20 



Scene I] Pericles, Prince of Tyre 1 1 1 

Lysimachus. I am the governor of this place you lie 
before. 

Helicanus. Sir, 
Our vessel is of Tyre, in it the king ; 
A man who for this three months hath not spoken 
To any one, nor taken sustenance 
But to prorogue his grief. 

Lysimachus. Upon what ground is his distemperature ? 

Helicanus. 'T would be too tedious to repeat ; 
But the main grief springs from the loss 
Of a beloved daughter and a wife. 30 

Lysimachus. May we not see him ? 

Helicanus. You may, 
But bootless is your sight ; he will not speak 
To any. 

Lysimachus. Yet let me obtain my wish. 

Helicanus. Behold him. \_Pericles discovered.'] This 
was a goodly person 
Till the disaster that, one mortal night, 
Drove him to this. 

Lysimachus. Sir king, all hail ! the gods preserve you ! 
Hail, royal sir ! 

Helicanus. It is in vain ; he will not speak to you. 40 

I Lord. Sir, 
We have a maid in Mytilene, I durst wager, 
Would win some words of him. 

Lysimachus. 'T is well bethought. 

She, questionless, with her sweet harmony 
And other chosen attractions, would allure, 



112 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act v 

And make a battery through his deafen 'd parts 

Which now are midway stopp'd. 

She is all happy as the fair'st of all, 

And with her fellow maids is now upon 

The leafy shelter that abuts against 50 

The island's side. 

[ Whispers a Lord, who goes off in the barge of 
Lysimachiis. 

Helicanus, Sure, all 's effectless ; j^et nothing we '11 
omit 
That bears recovery's name. But, since your kindness 
We have stretch 'd thus far, let us beseech you 
That for our gold we may provision have, 
Wherein we are not destitute for want, 
But weary for the staleness. 

Lysimachus. O, sir, a courtesy 

Which if we should deny, the most just gods 
For every graff would send a caterpillar. 
And so afflict our province. Yet once more 60 

Let me entreat to know at large the cause 
Of your king's sorrow. 

Helicanus. Sit, sir, I will recount it to you. — 

But, see, I am prevented. 

Re-enter the Lord, with Marina and a young Lady 

Lysimachus. O, here is 

The lady that I sent for. — Welcome, fair one ! 
Is 't not a goodly presence ? 

Helicanus. She 's a gallant lady. 



Scene I] Pericles, Prince of Tyre 113 

Lysimachus, She 's such a one, that, were I well 
assur'd 
Came of a gentle kind and noble stock, 
I 'd wish no better choice, and think me rarely wed. — 
Fair one, all goodness that consists in bounty 
Expect even here, where is a kingly patient. 70 

If that thy prosperous and artificial feat 
Can draw him but to answer thee in aught, 
Thy sacred physic shall receive such pay 
As thy desires can wish. 

Marina. Sir, I will use 

My utmost skill in his recovery. 
Provided 

That none but I and my companion maid 
Be suffer'd to come near him. 

Lysimachus. Come, let us leave her ; 

And the gods make her prosperous ! \_Marina sings. 

Lysimachus. Mark'd he your music ? 

Marina. No, nor look'd on us. 

Lysimachus. See, she will speak to him. 81 

Marina. Hail, sir ! my lord, lend ear. 

Pericles. Hum, ha ! 

Marina. I am a maid. 
My lord, that ne'er before invited eyes, 
But have been gaz'd on like a comet ; she speaks. 
My lord, that, may be, hath endur'd a grief 
Might equal yours if both were justly weigh 'd. 
Though wayward fortune did malign my state. 
My derivation was from ancestors 90 

PERICLES — 8 



114 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act V 

Who stood equivalent with mighty kings ; 

But time hath rooted out my parentage, 

And to the world and awkward casualties 

Bound me in servitude. [Aside. '\ I will desist ; - 

But there is something glows upon my cheek, 

And whispers in mine ear ' Go not till he speak.' 

Pericles. My fortunes — parentage — good parent- 
age— 
To equal mine ! — was it not thus ? what say you ? 
Marina. I said, my lord, if you did know my 
parentage, 
You would not do me violence. loo 

Pericles. I do think so. Pray you, turn your eyes 
upon me. 
You are like something that — What countrywoman ? 
Here of these shores ? 

Marina. No, nor of any shores ; 

Yet I was mortally brought forth, and am 
No other than I appear. 

Pericles, I am great with woe, and shall deliver 
weeping. 
My dearest wife was like this maid, and such a one 
My daughter might have been : my queen's square 

brows. 
Her stature to an inch, as wand-like straight. 
As silver-voic'd, her eyes as jewel-like no 

And cas'd as richly ; in pace another Juno, 
Who starves the ears she feeds, and makes them hungry 
The more she gives them speech. — Where do you live ? 



Scene I] Pericles, Prince of Tyre 115 

Marina. Where I am but a stranger ; from the deck 
You may discern the place. 

Pericles. Where were you bred ? 

And how achiev'd you these endowments which 
You make more rich to owe ? 

Marina. If I should tell my history, it would seem 
Like lies disdain 'd in the reporting. 

Pericles. Prithee, speak. 

Falseness cannot come from thee ; for thou look'st 120 
Modest as Justice, and thou seem'st a palace 
For the crown'd Truth to dwell in. I will believe thee, 
And make my senses credit thy relation 
To points that seem impossible, for thou look'st 
Like one I lov'd indeed. What were thy friends ? 
Didst thou not say, when I did push thee back — 
Which was when I perceiv'd thee — that thou cam'st 
From good descending ? 

Marina. So indeed I did. 

Pericles. Report thy parentage. I think thou said'st 
Thou hadst been toss'd from wrong to injury, 130 

And that thou thought'st thy griefs might equal mine 
If both were open'd. 

Marina. Some such thing 

I said, and said no more but what my thoughts 
Did warrant me was likely. 

Pericles. Tell thy story. 

If thine considered prove the thousandth part 
Of my endurance, thou art a man and I 
Have suff6r'd like a girl ; yet thou dost look 



ii6 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act v 

Like Patience gazing on kings' graves and smiling 
Extremity out of act. What were thy friends ? 
How lost thou them ? Thy name, my most kind virgin ? 
Recount, I do beseech thee ; come, sit by me. 141 

Marina. My name is Marina. 

Pericles. O, I am mock'd, 

And thou by some incensed god sent hither 
To make the world to laugh at me ! 

Marina. Patience, good sir, 

Or here I'll cease. 

Pericles. Nay, I '11 be patient. 

Thou little know'st how thou dost startle me, 
To call thyself Marina. 

Marina. The name 
Was given me by one that had some power. 
My father and a king. 

Pericles. How ! a king's daughter ? 150 

And call'd Marina ? 

Marina. You said you would believe me ; 

But, not to be a troubler of your peace, 
I will end here. 

Pericles. But are you flesh and blood ? 

Have you a working pulse ? and are no fairy ? 
No motion ? — Well ; speak on. Where were you born ? 
And wherefore call'd Marina ? 

Marina. Call'd Marina 

For I was born at sea. 

Pericles. At sea ! what mother ? 

Marina. My mother was the daughter of a king, 



Scene I] Pericles, Prince of Tyre 117 

Who died the minute I was born, 

As my good nurse Lychorida hath oft 160 

Deliver'd weeping. 

Pericles. O, stop there a little 1 — 

[Aside] This is the rarest dream that e'er dull sleep 
Did mock sad fools withal ; this cannot be, 
My daughter 's buried. — Well ; where were you bred ? 
I '11 hear you more, to the bottom of your story, 
And never interrupt you. 

Marina. You '11 scarce believe me ; 't were best I did 
give o'er. 

Pericles. I will believe you by the syllable 
Of what you shall deliver. Yet, give me leave : 169 

How came you in these parts ? where were you bred ? 

Marina. The king my father did in Tarsus leave me. 
Till cruel Cleon, with his wicked wife. 
Did seek to murther me, and having woo'd 
A villain to attempt it, who having drawn to do 't, 
A crew of pirates came and rescued me. 
Brought me to Mytilene. But, good sir. 
Whither will you have me ? Why do you weep ? It 

may be 
You think me an impostor ; no, good faith, 
I am the daughter to King Pericles, 
If good King Pericles be. 180 

Pericles. Ho, Helicanus! 

Helicanus. Calls my lord ? 

Pericles. Thou art a grave and noble counsellor. 
Most wise in general ; tell me, if thou canst. 



ii8 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act v 

What this maid is, or what is like to be, 
That thus hath made me weep? 

Helicanus. I know not ; but 

Here is the regent, sir, of Mytilene 
Speaks nobly of her. 

Lysimachus. She would never tell 

Her parentage ; being demanded that, 
She would sit still and weep. 190 

Pericles. O Helicanus, strike me, honour'd sir ; 
Give me a gash, put me to present pain. 
Lest this great sea of joys rushing upon me 
O'erbear the shores of my mortality, 
And drown me with their sweetness. — O, come hither, 
Thou that beget 'st him that did thee beget. 
Thou that wast born at sea, buried at Tarsus, » 
And found at sea again ! — O Helicanus, 
Down on thy knees, thank the holy gods as loud 
As thunder threatens us ; this is Marina ! — 200 

What was thy mother's name ? tell me but that, 
For truth can never be confirm 'd enough. 
Though doubts did ever sleep. 

Marina. First, sir, I pray, 

What is your title ? 

Pericles. I am Pericles of Tyre ; but tell me now 
My drown 'd queen's name, as in the rest you said 
Thou hast been godlike perfect, and thou art 
The heir of kingdoms and another life 
To Pericles thy father. 

Marina. Is it no more to be your daughter than 210 



Scene I] Pericles, Prince of Tyre 119 

To say my mother's name was Thaisa ? 
Thaisa was my mother, who did end 
The minute I began. 

Pericles. Now, blessing on thee ! rise ; thou art my 
child. — 
Give me fresh garments. — Mine own, Helicanus ! 
She is not dead at Tarsus, as she should have been. 
By savage Cleon ; she shall tell thee all, 
When thou shalt kneel and justify in knowledge 
She is thy very princess. — Who is this ? 

Helicanus. Sir, 't is the governor of Mytilene, 220 
Who, hearing of your melancholy state. 
Did come to see you. 

Pericles. I embrace you. — 

Give me my robes. — I am wild in my beholding. — 
O heavens bless my girl ! — But, hark, what music ? — 
Tell Helicanus, my Marina, tell him 
O'er, point by point, for yet he seems to doubt, 
How sure you are my daughter. — But, what music ? 

Helicanus. My lord, I hear none. 

Pericles. None ! 
The music of the spheres ! — List, my Marina. 230 

Lysimachus. It is not good to cross him ; give him 
way. 

Pericles. Rarest sounds ! Do ye not hear ? 

Lysimachzis. Music, my lord ? I hear — 

Pericles. Most heavenly music ! 
It nips me unto listening, and thick slumber 
Hangs upon mine eyes ; let me rest. [Sleeps. 



1 20 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act V 

Lysimachus. A pillow for his head. — 
So, leave him all. — Well, my companion friends, 
If this but answer to my just belief, 
I '11 well remember you. \Exeunt all but Pericles. 

Diana appears to Pericles as in a vision 

Diana. My temple stands in Ephesus ; hie thee 
thither, 240 

And do upon mine altar sacrifice. 
There, when my maiden priests are met together, 
Before the people all. 

Reveal how thou at sea didst lose thy wife ; 
To mourn thy crosses, with thy daughter's, call 
And give them repetition to the life. 
Or perform my bidding, or thou liv'st in woe ; 
Do it, and happy, by my silver bow ! 
Awake, and tell thy dream. {Disappears. 

Pejicles. Celestial Dian, goddess argentine, 250 

I will obey thee. — Helicanus ! 

Re-enter Helicanus, Lysimachus, a^id Marina 

Helicanus. Sir ? 

Pericles. My purpose was for Tarsus, there to strike 
The inhospitable Cleon, but I am 
For other service first. Toward Ephesus 
Turn our blown sails ; eftsoons I '11 tell thee why. — 
\_To Lysimachus] Shall we refresh us, sir, upon your 

shore, 
And give you gold for such provision 



Scene II] Pericles^ Prince of Tyre 121 

As our intents will need ? 

Lysimachus. Sir, 
With all my heart ; and, when you come ashore, 260 
I have another suit. 

Pericles. You shall prevail, 

Were it to woo my daughter ; for it seems 
You have been noble towards her. 

Lysimachus. Sir, lend me your arm. 

Pericles. Come, my Marina. \_Exeunt. 

Scene II. — Enter Gower, before the Temple of Diana 

at Ephesus 

Gower. Now our sands are almost run ; 
More a little, and then dumb. 
This, my last boon, give me, 
For such kindness must relieve me. 
That you aptly will suppose 
What pageantry, what feats, what shows, 
What minstrelsy, and pretty din, , 
The regent made in Mytilene 
To greet the king. So he thriv'd 

That he is promis'd to he wiv'd 10 

To fair Marina ; but in no wise 
Till he had done his sacrifice. 
As Dian bade, whereto being bound, 
The interim, pray you, all confound. 
In feather'd briefness sails are fill'd. 
And wishes fall out as they 're will'd. 



122 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act V 

At Ephesus, the temple see, 

Our king, and all his company. 

That he can hither come so soon, 19 

Is by your fancies' thankful doom. \_jExi^. 

Scene III. — TAe Temple of Diana at Ephesus ; Thaisa 
standing near the Altar, as High- Priestess ; a number 
of Virgins on each side ; Cerimon a7id other Inhabit- 
ants of Ephesus attending 

Enter Pericles, with his train; Lysimachus, Heli- 

CANUS, Marina, and a Lady 

Pericles. Hail, Dian ! to perform thy just command, 
I here confess myself the king of Tyre, 
Who, frighted from my country, did wed 
At Pentapolis the fair Thaisa. 
At sea in childbed died she, but brought forth 
A maid-child call'd Marina, who, O goddess. 
Wears yet thy silver livery. She at Tarsus 
Was nurs'd with Cleon, who at fourteen years 
He sought to murther, but her better stars 
Brought her to Mytilene, 'gainst whose shore 10 

Riding, her fortunes brought the maid aboard us. 
Where, by her own most clear remembrance, she 
Made known herself my daughter. 

Thaisa. Voice and favour ! 

You are, you are — O royal Pericles ! \_Eaints. 

Pericles. What means the nun ? she dies ! — help, 
gentlemen ! 



Scene III] Pericles, Prince of Tyre 123 

Cerimon. Noble sir, 
If you have told Diana's altar true. 
This is your wife. 

Pericles. Reverend appearer, no ; 

I threw her overboard with these very arms. 19 

Cerimon. Upon this coast, I warrant you. 

Pericles. 'T is most certain. 

Cerimon. Look to the lady. — O, she 's but o'erjoy'd. 
Early in blustering morn this lady w^as 
Thrown upon this shore. I op'd the coffin, 
Found there rich jewels, recover'd her, and plac'd her 
Here in Diana's temple. 

Pericles. May we see them ? 

Cerimon. Great sir, they shall be brought you to my 
house, 
Whither I invite you. Look, Thaisa is 
Recovered. 

Thaisa. O, let me look ! 
If he be none of mine, my sanctity 
Will to my sense bend no licentious ear, 30 

But curb it, spite of seeing. — O, my lord. 
Are you not Pericles ? Like him you spake. 
Like him you are ; did you not name a tempest, 
A birth, and death ? 

Pericles. The voice of dead Thaisa ! 

Thaisa. That Thaisa am I, supposed dead 
And drown 'd. 

Pericles. Immortal Dian ! 

Thaisa. Now I know you better. 



^ 



124 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act V 

When we with tears parted Pentapolis, 
The king my father gave you such a ring. 

\Shows a ring. 

Pericles. This, this ! — no more, you gods ! your 
present kindness 40 

Makes my past miseries sports ; you shall do well, 
That on the touching of her lips I may 
Melt and no more be seen. — O, come, be buried 
A second time within these arms. 

Marina. My heart 

Leaps to be gone into my mother's bosom. 

\_Kneels to Thaisa. 

Pei'icles. Look, who kneels here ! Flesh of thy flesh, 
Thaisa ; 
Thy burden at the sea, and call'd Marina 
For she was yielded there. 

Thaisa. Blest, and mine own ! 

Helicanus. Hail, madam, and my queen ! 

Thaisa. I know you not. 

Pericles. You have heard me say, when I did fly from 
Tyre, .50 

I left behind an ancient substitute ; 
Can you remember what I call'd the man ? 
I have nam'd him oft. 

Thaisa. 'T was HeHcanus then. 

Pericles. Still confirmation ! 
Embrace him, dear Thaisa ; this is he. 
Now do I long to hear how you were found. 
How possibly preserv'd, and who to thank, 



Scene III] Pericles, Prince of Tyre 125 

Besides the gods, for this great miracle. 

Thaisa. Lord Cerimon, my lord ; this man, 
Through whom the gods have shown their power, that 
can 60 

From first to last resolve you. 

Pericles. Reverend sir, 

The gods can have no mortal officer 
More like a god than you. Will you deliver 
How this dead queen re-lives ? 

Cerimon. I will, my lord. 

Beseech you, first go with me to my house, 
Where shall be shown you all was found with her, 
How she came plac'd here in the temple. 
No needful thing omitted. 

Pericles. Pure Dian, bless thee for thy vision ! I 
Will offer night-oblations to thee. — Thaisa, 70 

This prince, the fair-betrothed of your daughter, 
Shall marry her at Pentapolis. — And now. 
This ornament 

Makes me look dismal will I clip to form ; 
And what this fourteen years no razor touch'd. 
To grace thy marriage-day, I '11 beautify. 

Thaisa, Lord Cerimon hath letters of good credit, sir. 
My father 's dead. 

Pericles. Heavens make a star of him ! — Yet there, 
my queen. 
We '11 celebrate their nuptials, and ourselves 80 

Will in that kingdom spend our following days ; 
Our son and daughter shall in Tyrus reign. — • 



126 Pericles, Prince of Tyre [Act v 

Lord Cerimon, we do our longing stay 

To hear the rest untold. — Sir, lead 's the way. 

[^Exeunt. 
Enter Gower 

Gower. In Antiochus and his daughter you have 
heard 
Of monstrous lust the due and just reward ; 
In Pericles, his queen and daughter, seen, 
Although assail'd with fortune fierce and keen, 
Virtue preserv'd from fell destruction's blast, 
Led on by heaven and crown 'd with joy at last; 90 

In Helicanus may you well descry 
A figure of truth, of faith, of loyalty ; . 
In reverend Cerimon there well appears 
The worth that learned charity aye wears ; 
For wicked Cleon and his wife, when fame 
Had spread their cursed deed and honour'd name 
Of Pericles, to rage the city turn, 
That him and his they in his palace burn ; 
The gods for murther seemed so content 
To punish them, although not done, but meant. 100 

So, on your patience evermore attending, 
New joy wait on you ! Here our play has ending. 

\Exit. 



NOTES 




Monument of GowerI 



NOTES 



Introduction 



The Metre of the Play. — It should be understood at the 
outset that metre, or the mechanism of verse, is something alto- 

1 In St. Saviour's, Southwark, London. Gower had contributed 
largely to the restoration of the church, in which, in 1399, he had been 
married to Alice Groundolf by William of Wykeham, Bishop of Win- 
chester. Stow describes the monument thus : " He heth under a tomb 
of stone, with his image also of stone over him ; the hair of his head 
auburn, long to his shoulders but curling up, and a small forked beard ; 
on his head a chaplet like a coronet of four roses ; a habit of purple, 
damasked down to his feet; a collar of esses gold about his neck; 
under his head the likeness of three books which he compiled." 
PERICLES — 9 129 



I JO Notes 



gether distinct from the imisic of verse. The one is matter of rule, 
the other of taste and feeUng. Music is not an absolute necessity 
of verse ; the metrical form is a necessity, being that which consti- 
tutes the verse. 

The plays of Shakespeare (with the exception of rhymed pas- 
sages, and of occasional songs and interludes) are all in unrhymed 
or blank verse ; and the normal form of this blank verse is illus- 
trated by iii. 1. 13 of the present play : "Aboard our dancing boat; 
make swift the pangs." ^ 

This line, it will be seen, consists of ten syllables, with the even 
syllables (2d, 4th, 6th, 8th, and loth) accented, the odd syllables 
(ist, 3d, etc.) being unaccented. Theoretically, it is made up of 
ii\t. feet oi two syllables each, with the accent on the second sylla- 
ble. Such a foot is called an iambus (plural, iambuses, or the Latin 
iambi"), and the form of verse is called iambic. 

This fundamental law of Shakespeare's verse is subject to certain 
modifications, the most important of which are as follows : — 

1. After the tenth syllable an unaccented syllable (or even two 
sach syllables) may be added, forming what is sometimes called a 
female line ; as in iii. I. i : " Thou god of this great vast, rebuke 
these surges." The rhythm is complete with the first syllable of 
surges, the second being an extra eleventh syllable. In iii. i. 6 we 
have two extra syllables, the rhythm being complete with the second 
syllable oi Lychorida. Another example is iii, i. 12, the two last 
syllables of deity being extra ones. 

2. The accent in any part of the verse may be shifted from an 
even to an odd syllable; as in iii. 1.4: " Having call'd them," etc., 
and 15 just below : " Here is a thing," etc. In both lines the accent 
is shifted from the second to the first syllable. This change occurs 
very rarely in the tenth syllable, and seldom in the fourth (but we 
have an example in iii. 1.3: " bind them ") ; and it is not allowable 
in two successive accented syllables. 

1 In this play I take the examples of metrical matters, as far as possible, 
from Shakespeare's part of it. 



Notes 131 

3. An extra unaccented syllable may occur in any part of the 
line; as in iii. i. 5, 6, 7, in which the second syllables ol deafening, 
sulphurous, and venojnotisly are superfluous. In 6 the second syl- 
lable oi flashes is also superfluous. 

4. Any unaccented syllable, occurring in an even place immedi- 
ately before or after an even syllable which is properly accented, is 
reckoned as accented for the purposes of the verse; as, for instance, 
in lines 7 and 10. In 7 the last syllable of venomously, and in 10 
that oi Lychorida (as also in 14 and 18), are metrically equivalent 
to accented syllables. 

5. In many instances in Shakespeare words must be lengthened 
in order to fill out the rhythm : — 

{a) In a large class of words in which e or i is followed by 
another vowel, the e or i is made a separate syllable ; as ocean, 
opinion, soldier, patience, partial, marriage, etc. For instance, in 
Lear, iv. 5. 3 ("Your sister is the better soldier") appears to have 
only nine syllables, but soldier is a trisyllable; and the same is true 
oi gorgeous in Id. ii. 4. 266 : " If only to go warm were gorgeous." 
See also nation in i. 4. 65, and marriage in ii. 3. 30 of the present 
play. This lengthening occurs most frequently at the end of the 
line, but there are few instances of it in the later plays. 

(F) Many monosyllables ending in r, re, rs, res, preceded by a 
long vowel or diphthong, are often made dissyllables; 2iS fare, fear, 
dear, fir e, hair, hour, more, your, etc. In Lear, iii. 2. 15 ("Nor 
rain, wind, thunder, fire, are my daughters "), y?r^ is a dissyllable. 
If the word is repeated in a verse, it is often both monosyllable 
and dissyllable ; as in J. C. iii. i. 172 : "As fire drives out fire, so 
pity, pity," where the first fire is a dissyllable. 

(<:) Words containing / or r, preceded by another consonant, are 
often pronounced as if a vowel came between or after the conso- 
nants ; as in T. ofS. ii. i. 158 : " While she did call me rascal fiddler " 
[fiddl(e)er]; All ^s well, iii. 5. 43: "If you will tarry, holy pil- 
grim" [pilg(e)rim] ; C. of.E.Y. i. 360 : "These are the parents 
of these children '^ (childeren, the original form of the word) | W, T^ 



132 



Notes 



iv. 4. 76 : "Grace and remembrance [rememb(e) ranee] be to you 
both ! " etc. In ii. 3. 64 of the present play entrance is a trisyl- 
lable [ent(e)rance], and in i. 4. 71 the same is true of semblance 
[sembl(e)ance]. 

(a') Monosyllabic exclamations {ay, O, yea, nay, hail, etc.) and 
monosyllables otherwise emphasized are similarly lengthened; also 
certain longer words; as safely (trisyllable) in Ham. i. 3. 21 ; business 
(trisyllable, as originally pronounced) in/. C. iv. i. 22 : "To groan 
and sweat under the business " (so in several other passages) ; and 
other words mentioned in the notes to the plays in which they occur. 

6. Words are also contracted for metrical reasons, like plurals 
and possessives ending in a sibilant, as balance, horse (for horses 
and horse'' s), princess, sense, marriage (plural and possessive), 
image, etc. So with many adjectives in the superlative (yik^ fair'' st 
in V. I. 48, loyaPst, greatest, loudest, rarest, sweetest, etc.) and certain 
other words. 

7. The accent of words is also varied in many instances for metri- 
cal reasons. Thus we find both revenue and revenue in the first scene 
of the M. N. D. (lines 6 and 158), cdnjine (noun) and confine, c6n- 
fiscate and confiscate, divine and divine, prSfane and profdne, etc. 

These instances of variable accent must not be confounded with 
those in which words were uniformly accented differently in the 
time of Shakespeare ; like aspect, impdrtune, sepulchre (verb) , per- 
sever {xi^-vox persevere), perseverance, rheumatic, etc. 

8. Alexandrines, or verses of twelve syllables, with six accents, 
occur here and there in the plays. They must not be confounded 
with female lines with two extra syllables (see on i above) or with 
other lines in which two extra unaccented syllables may occur. 

9. Incomplete verses, of one or more syllables, are scattered 
through the plays. See iii. i. 37, 42, 56, 74, 78, etc. 

10. Doggerel measure is used in the very earliest comedies 
(Z. L. L. and C. of E. in particular) in the mouths of comic 
characters, but nowhere else in those plays, and never anywhere 
in plays written after 1598. 



Notes 133 

n. Rhyme occurs frequently in the early plays, but diminishes 
with comparative regularity from that period until the latest. Thus, 
in L. L. L. there are about iioo rhyming verses (about one-third 
of the v^rhole number), in the M. N. D. about 900, in Rich. II. 
and R. and J. about 500 each, v^^hile in Cor. and A. and C. there 
are only about 40 each, in the Temp, only tvi^o, and in the W. T. 
none at all, except in the chorus introducing act iv. Songs, inter- 
ludes, and other matter not in ten-syllable measure are not included 
in this enumeration. For the rhymes in the present play, see p. 22 
above. 

Alternate rhymes are found only in the plays vi^ritten before 1599 
or 1600. In the M. of V. there are only four lines at the end of 
iii. 2. In Much Ado and A. Y. L., vfe also find a few lines, but 
none at all in subsequent plays. 

Rhymed couplets, or " rhyme-tags," are often found at the end of 
scenes; as in 12 of the 20 scenes of the present play. Only 4 of 
these occur in the 8 scenes that are Shakespeare's. In Hatn. 14 out 
of 20 scenes, and in Macb. 21 out of 28, have such " tags ; " but in 
the latest plays they are not so frequent. In Temp., for instance, 
there is but one, and in W. T. none. 

12. In this edition of Shakespeare, the final -ed of past tenses 
and participles in verse is printed -d when the word is to be pro- 
nounced in the ordinary way; as in hallow' d, iii. i. 60, and coffi-n^d, 
61. But when the metre requires that the -ed be made a separate 
syllable, the e is retained; as in recovered (^Ci^z.^x\^j\i.2SA€), iii. 2. 86, 
and praised (dissyllable), 102. The only variation from this rule 
is in verbs like cry, die, sue, etc., the -ed of which is very rarely, if 
ever, made a separate syllable. 

Shakespeare's "Use of Verse and Prose in the Plays. — 
This is a subject to which critics have given very little attention, 
but it is an interesting study. In the present play, Shakespeare's 
part is entirely in verse, with the exception of the few short speeches 
of the sailors in iii. i. In general, we may say that verse is used 
for what is distinctly poetical, and prose for what is not poetical. 



134 Notes 

The distinction, however, is not so clearly marked in the earlier as 
in the later plays. The second scene of M. of V., for instance, is 
in prose, because Portia and Nerissa are talking about the suitors 
in a familiar and playful way; but in T. G. of V., where Julia and 
Lucetta are discussing the suitors of the former in much the same 
fashion, the scene is in verse. Dowden, commenting on Rich. II., 
remarks : " Had Shakespeare written the play a few years later, we 
may be certain that the gardener and his servants (iii. 4) would not 
have uttered stately speeches in verse, but would have spoken 
homely prose, and that humour would have mingled with the pathos 
of the scene. The same remark may be made with reference to the 
subsequent scene (v. 5) in which his groom visits the dethroned 
king in the Tower." Comic characters and those in low life generally 
speak in prose in the later plays, as Dowden intimates, but in the very 
earliest ones doggerel verse is much used instead. See on 10 above. 

The change from prose to verse is well illustrated in the third 
scene oi AI. of V. It begins with plain prosaic talk about a busi- 
ness matter ; but when Antonio enters, it rises at once to the higher 
level of poetry. The sight of Antonio reminds Shylock of his 
hatred of the Merchant, and the passion expresses itself in verse, 
the vernacular tongue of poetry. 

The reasons for the choice of prose or verse are not always so 
clear as in this instance. We are seldom puzzled to explain the 
prose, but not unfrequently we meet with verse where we might 
expect prose. As Professor Corson remarks (^Introduction to Shake- 
speare, 1889), "Shakespeare adopted verse as the general tenor of 
his language, and therefore expressed much in verse that is within 
the capabilities of prose ; in other words, his verse constantly en- 
croaches upon the domain of prose, but his prose can never be said 
to encroach upon the domain of verse." If in rare instances we think 
we find exceptions to this latter statement, and prose actually seems to 
usurp the place of verse, I believe that careful study of the passage 
will prove the supposed exception to be apparent rather than real. 

Some Books for Teachers and Students. — A few out of the 



Notes 135 

many books that might be commended to the teacher and the criti- 
cal student are the following : Halliwell-Phillipps's Outlines of the 
Life of Shakespeare (yth ed. 1887) ; Sidney Lee's Life of Shake- 
speare (1898 ; for ordinary students the abridged ed. of 1899 is 
preferable) ; ^oXi^^s Life of Shakespeare (1904) ; Schmidt's Shake- 
speare Lexicon (3d ed. 1902) ; Littledale's ed. of Dyce's Glossary 
(1902) ; Bartlett's Concordance to Shakespeare (1895) » Abbott's 
Shakespearian Grammar (1873) ; Furness's " New Variorum " ed. 
of the plays (encyclopaedic and exhaustive) ; Dowden's Shakspere : 
Llis Mind and Art (American ed. 1881) ; Hudson's Life, Art, 
and Characters of Shakespeare (revised ed. 1882) ; Mrs. Jameson's 
Characteristics of Womejt (several eds. ; some with the title, 
Shakespeare Heroines') ; Ten Brink's Five Lectures on Shakespeare 
(1895) j Boas's Shakespeare and his Predecessors (1895) 5 Dyer's 
Folk-lore of Shakespeare (American ed. 1884) ; Gervinus's Shake- 
speare Commentaries (Bunnett's translation, 1875) ; Wordsworth's 
Shakespeare^ s Knowledge of the Bible (3d ed. 1880) ; Elson's 
Shakespeare in Music (1901). 

Some of the above books will be useful to all readers who are 
interested in special subjects or in general criticism of Shakespeare. 
Among those which are better suited to the needs of ordinary 
readers and students, the following may be mentioned : Mabie's 
William Shakespeare: Poet, Dramatist, and Man (1900) ; Dow- 
den's Shakspere Primer (1877 ; small but invaluable) ; Rolfe's 
Shakespeare the Boy (1896 ; treating of the home and school life, 
the games and sports, the manners, customs, and folk-lore of the 
poet's time) ; Guerber's Myths of Greece and Rome (for young 
students who may need information on mythological allusions not 
explained in the notes). 

H. Snowden Ward's Shakespeare's Town and Times (2d ed. 
1902) and John Leyland's Shakespeare Country (2d ed. 1903) are 
copiously illustrated books (yet inexpensive) which may be particu- 
larly commended for school libraries. 

Abbreviations in the Notes. — The abbreviations of the names 



136 



Notes 



of Shakespeare's plays will be readily understood 1 as 71 N. for 
Twelfth Night, Cor. for Coriolantis, 3 Hen. VI. for The Third 
Part of King Henry the Sixth, etc. P. P. refers to The Passionate 
Pilgrim; V. and A, to Ventts and Adonis ; L. C. to Lover'' s Com- 
plaint; and Sonn. to the Sonnets. 

Other abbreviations that hardly need explanation are Cf. {confer, 
compare), Fol. (following), Id. {idetn, the same), and Prol. (pro- 
logue). The numbers of the lines in the references (except for the 
present play) are those of the " Globe " edition (the cheapest and 
best edition oi Shakespeare in one compact volume), which is now 
generally accepted as the standard for line-numbers in works of ref- 
erence (Schmidt's Lexicon, Abbott's Grammar, Dowden's Primer, 
the publications of the New Shakspere Societ}', etc.). 

Illustrative Passages from Gower. — Knight gives the 
following extracts from Gower's Confessio Amantis (quoted 
here by permission) to illustrate the use made of the poem in the 
play : — 

Act L — "The father, when he understood 

That they his daughter thus besought, 

With all his wit he cast and sought 

How that he might find a let ; 

And thus a statute then he set, 

And in this wise his law he taxeth — 

That what man that his daughter axeth, 

But if he couth 1 his question 

Assoil,2 upon suggestion 

Of certain things that befell, 

The which he would unto him tell, 

He should in certain lose his head. 

And thus there were many dead, 

Their heads standing on the gate, 

Till at last, long and late. 

For lack of answer in the wise,3 

1 Couth — was able. 2 As soil — answer. 3 Jn tJie wise — in the manner. 



Notes 

The remnant, that weren wise, 
Eschewden to make essay. 

The king declareth him the case 
With stern look and sturdy cheer, 
To him and said in this manner : 
With felony I am up bore, 
I eat, and have it nought forbore. 
My mother's flesh, whose husband 
My father for to seek I fonde,i 
Which is the son of my wife. 
Hereof I am inquisitive, 
And who that can my tale save. 
All quite 2 he shall my daughter have 
Of his answer ; and if he fail 
He shall be dead without fail. 
For thee, my son, quoth the king, 
Be well advised of this thing 
Which hath thy life in jeopardy. 

***** 
This young prince forth he went. 
And understood well what he meant, 
Within his heart, as he was lered ; 3 
That for to make him affered 4 
The king his time hath so delayed. 
Whereof he dradde.s and was amayed^ 
Of treason that he die should. 
For he the king his soth "> told ; 
And suddenly the night's tide. 
That more would he not abide. 
All privily his barge he hent.s 
And home again to Tyre he went. 
And in his own wit he said, 

1 Fonde — try. 5 Dradde — dreaded. 

2 Quite — free. 6 Amayed— dismayed. 

3 Lered — taught . J" Soth — truth . 

4 Affered — afraid. 8 Hent — took to . 



137 



138 Notes 

For dread if he the king bewray'd.i 
He knew so well the king's heart, 
That death ne should he not asterte ,2 
The king would him so pursue. 
But he that would his death eschew, 
And knew all this to fore the hand 
Forsake he thought his own land, 
That there would he not abide ; 
For well he knew that on some side 
This tyrant, of his felony, 
By some manner of treachery 
To grieve his body would not leave. 

***** 
Antiochus, the great sire, 
Which full of rancour and of ire 
His heart beareth so, as ye heard, 
Of that this prince of Tyre answer'd. 
He had a fellow-bachelor, 
Which was the privy councillor. 
And Taliart by name he hight ; 
The king a strong poison dight 
Within a box, and gold thereto. 
In all haste, and bade him go 
Straight unto Tyre, and for no cost 
Ne spare, till he had lost 
The prince, which he would spill. 
And when the king hath said his will, 
This Taliart in a galley 
With all haste he took his way. 
The wind was good, and saileth blive,3 
Till he took land upon the rive ■* 
Of Tyre, and forth with all anon 
Into the burgh he gan to gon, 
And took his inn, and bode a throw ; ^ 

1 Bewray d — discovered. 3 Blive — quick. 

2 Asterte — escape. 4 j^iye — coast. 

^ Throw — time. 



Notes 



^39 



But for he would not be know, 
Disguised then he goeth him out, 
He saw the weeping all about, 
And axeth what the cause was. 
And they him tolden all the case, 
How suddenly the prince is go. 
And when he saw that it was so, 
And that his labour was in vain, 
Anon he turneth home again : 
And to the king when he came nigh, 
He told of that he heard and sihe.i 
How that the prince of Tyre is fi.ed. 
So was he come again unsped. 
The king was sorry for a while, 
But when he saw, that with no wile 
He might achieve his cruelty, 
He stint his wrath, and let him be. 

^ *■ ^ ^ ^ 

But over this now for to tell 

Of adventures, that befell 

Unto this prince of whom ytold : 

He hath his right course forth hold 

By stern and needle,^ till he came 

To Tharse, and there his land he name. 

A burgess rich of gold and fee 

Was thilke time in that city. 

Which cleped was Stranguilio, 

His wife was Dionise also. 

This young prince, as saith the book, 

With him his herbergage^ took; 

And it befell that city so. 

By fore time and then also, 

Thurh 4 strong famine, which them lad,5 

Was none that any wheat had. 

1 SiJze — saw, 3 Herbergage — lodging. 

2 Stern andneedle — stars and compass. 4 Thzirh — through. 

5 Zrto'— led, affected. 



140 Notes 

Appollinus, when that he heard 

The mischief how the city ferde.l 

All freely of his own gift, 

His wheat among them for to shift, 

The which by ship he had brought. 

He gave, and took of them right nought. 

But sithen first the world began 

Was never yet to such a man 

More joy made, than they him made ; 

For they were all of him so glad, 

That they for ever in remembrance 

Made a figure in resemblance 

Of him, and in common place 

They set it up ; so that his face 

Might every manner man behold, 

So that the city was behold. 

It was of laton 2 over-gilt ; 

Thus hath he not his gift spilt." 

Act n. — " When him thought all grace away, 
There came a fisher in the way, 
And saw a man there naked stond. 
And when that he hath understond 
The cause, he hath of him great ruth,3 
And only of his poor truth, 
Of such clothes as he had 
With great pity this lord he clad, 
And he him thanketh, as he should. 
And saith him that it shall be gold. 
If ever he get his state again ; 
And pray'd that he would him seyn * 
If nigh were any town for him. 
He said, Yea, Pentapolim, 
Where both king and queen dwellen. 
When he this tale heard tellen 

1 Ferde — terrified. 3 Ruth — pity. 

2 Laton — mixed metal. 4 Seyn — say. 



Notes 141 



He gladdeth him, and gan beseech 
That he the way him would teach ; 
And he him taught, and forth he went, 
And prayed God with good intent 
To send him joy after his sorrow. 
It was not yet passed mid-morrow. 

* * *- * * 

Then thitherward his way he name.i 
Where soon upon the noon he came. 
He eat such as he might get, 
And forth anon, when he had eat, 
He goeth to see the town about ; 
And came there as he found a rout 
Of young lusty men withal ; 
And as it should then befall. 
That day was set of such assise, 
That they should in the land's guise. 
As he heard of the people say, 
The common game then play : 
And cried was, that they should come 
Unto the game, all and some 
Of them that ben 2 deliver 3 and wight,* 
To do such mastery as they might. 

* * * * -^ 

And fell among them into game, 
And there he won him such a name 
So as the king himself accounteth 
That he all other men surmounteth. 
And bare the prize above them all. 
The king bade that into his hall, 
At supper-time, he shall be brought ; 
And he came there, and left it nought 
Without company alone. 
Was none so seemly of person, 

1 Name — takes. 3 Deliver — nimble. 

2 Ben — are. 4 Wight — active. 



142 Notes 



Of visage, and of limbs both, 

If that he had what to clothe. 

At supper-time, nathless, 

The king amid all the press 

Let clap him up among them all, 

And bade his marshal of his hall 

To setten him in such degree 

That he upon him might see. 

The king was soon set and serv'd, 

And he which hath his prize deserv'd, 

After the king's own word, 

Was made begin a middle board. 

That both king and queen him sihe.i 

He sat, and cast about his eye, 

And saw the lords in estate, 

And with himself wax in debate, 

Thinking what he had lore ; 2 

And such a sorrow he took therefore, 

That he sat ever still, and thought. 

As he which of no meat rought.^ 



The king beheld his heaviness, 
And of his great gentleness 
His daughter, which was fair and good, 
And at the board before him stood. 
As it was thilke 4 time usage, 
He bade to go on his message. 
And fonde ^ for to make him glad. 
And she did as her father bade. 
And goeth to him the soft pace, 
And axeth whence and what he was. 
And prayeth he should his thoughts leave. 
***** 

1 Sihe — saw. ^ Rought — cared. 

2 i^ore — lost. 4 Thilke — that same. 

5 Fotide — try. 



Notes 143 



When he hath harped all his fill 

The king's hest to fulfil, 

Away goeth dish, away goeth cup, 

Down goeth the board, the cloth was up, 

They risen, and gone out of hall. 

The king his chamberlain let call, 

And bade that he by all way 

A chamber for this man purvey. 

Which nigh his own chamber be. 

It shall be do, my lord, quoth he. 

And when that he to chamber is come, 

He hath into his council norae 1 

This man of Tyre, and let him see 

This letter, and all the privity 

The which his daughter to him sent. 

And he his knee to ground bent 

And thanketh him and her also ; 

And ere they went then a two, 2 

With good heart, and with good courage. 

Of full love and full marriage 

The king and he ben whole accorded. 

And after, when it was recorded 

Unto the daughter how it stood, 

The gift of all the world's good 

Ne should have made her half so blithe." 

Act III. — " They axen when the ship is come : 
From Tyre, anon answered some. 
And over this they saiden more, 
The cause why they come for 
Was for to seek, and for to find, 
Appollinus, which is of kind 
Their liege lord ; and he appeareth, 
And of the tale which he heareth 
He was right glad ; for they him told 

1 Nome — taken . 2 ^ tTj^o — apart. 



144 Notes 



That for vengeance, as God it would, 
Antiochus, as men may wete.l 
With thunder and hghtning is sore smete.2 
His daughter hath the same chance, 
So be they both in o 3 balance. 

***** 
Lychorida for her office 
Was take, which was a nourrice, 
To wend with this young wife. 
To whom was shape a woeful life. 
Within a time, as it betid, 
When they were in the sea amid, 
Out of the north they saw a cloud : 
The storm arose, the winds loud 
They blewen many a dreadful blast, 
The welkin was all overcast. 
The dark night the sun hath under, 
There was a great tempest of thunder. 
The moon, and eke the stars both, 
In black clouds they them clothe, 
Whereof their bright look they hid. 
This young lady wept and cried, 
To whom no comfort might avail. 
Of child she began travail. 
Where she lay in a cabin close. 
Her woeful lord from her arose. 
And that was long ere any morrow. 
So that in anguish and in sorrow 
She was deliver'd all by night, 
And dead in every man's sight. 
But nathless for all this woe 
A maid child was bore tho.* 

^ ?jf ^ vJC ^ 

The master shipman came and pray'd. 
With other such as be therein, 
And said that he may nothing win 

1 l^^/^_know. ^ Smete — smitten. ^O — one. ^Tho — then. 



Notes i^r 

Again the death, but they him rede,i 

He be well ware, and take heed. 

The sea by way of his nature 

Receive may no creature, 

Within himself as for to hold 

The which is dead ; for this they would, 

As they councillen all about. 

The dead body casten out : 

For better it is, they saiden all, 

That it of her so befal, 

Than if they shoulden all spill, 

***** 
I am, quoth he, but one alone ; 
So would I not for my person 
There fell such adversity, 
But when it may no better be. 
Do then thus upon my word : 
Let make a coffer strong of board. 
That it be firm with lead and pitch. 
Anon was made a coffer such 
All ready brought unto his hand ; 
And when he saw, and ready found 
This coffer made, and well endowed, 
The dead body was bestowed 
In cloth of gold, and laid therein, 

***** 
I, king of Tyre, Appollinus, 
Do all manner men to wit, 
That hear and see this letter writ, 
That, helpless without rede,2 
Here lieth a king's daughter dead ; 
And who that happeth her to find. 
For charity take in his mind. 
And do so that she be begrave,^ 
With this treasure which he shall have. 

1 Rede — advise. 2 i?^^^ _ counsel ; perhaps here medical aid. 

3 Begrave — hm'iQd, 
PERICLES — 10 



146 



Notes 



Right as the corps was thrown on land, ' 
There came walking upon the strand 
A worthy clerk, a surgeon, 
And eke a great physician, 
Of all that land the wisest one, 
Which hight master Cerymon : 
There were of his disciples some. 
This master to the coffer is come, 
And peyseth 1 there was somewhat in, 
And bade them bear it to his inn, 
And goeth himself forth withal. 
All that shall fall, fall shall. 

***** 
They laid her on a couch soft, 
And with a sheet warmed oft. 
Her cold breast began to heat, 
Her heart also to flack 2 and beat. 
This master hath her every joint 
With certain oil and balm anoint. 
And put a hquor in her mouth, 
Which is to few clerks couth,^ 
So that she 'covereth at the last. 
And first her eyen up she cast ; 
And when she more of strength caught. 
Her arms both forth she straught,4 
Held up her hand, and piteously 
She spake, and said, Ah 1 where am I ? 
Where is my lord ? What world is this ? 
As she that wot nought how it is. 

***** 

My daughter Thayse, by your leave, 
I think shall with you bileave ^ 
As for a time ; and thus I pray 

1 Peyseth — considereth. 3 Couth — known. 

2 Flack — flutter, * Str aught — stretched. 

5 Bileave — leave behind. 



Notes 147 



That she be kept by all way : 
And when she hath of age more, 
That she be set to books' lore. 
And this avow to God I make, 
That I shall never for her sake 
My beard for no liking shave, 
Till it befall that I have. 
In covenable time of age, 
Beset her unto marriage." 

Act IV. — " And for to speak how that it stood 

Of Thayse his daughter, where she dwelleth 

In Tharse, as the chronique telleth. 

She was well kept, she was well looked, 

She was well taught, she was well booked ; 

So well she sped in her youth 

That she of every wisdom couth, 

That for to seek in every lond 

So wise another no man found, 

Ne so well taught at man's eye ; 

But woe-worth, ever falls envy. 

***** 
The treason and the time is shape. 
So fell it that this churlish knape 
Hath led this maiden where he would 
Upon the strand, and what she should 
She was a drad ; and he out braid i 
A rusty sword, and to her said, 
Thou shalt be dead : alas, quoth she, 
Why shall I so ? So thus, quoth he, 
My lady Dionise hath bade 
Thou shalt be murder'd in this stede. 
This maid then for fear shrihte,^ 
And for the love of God all-might 
She pray'th, that for a little stound 3 
She might kneel upon the ground 

1 Braid — started, drew. '^ Shrihte— shrieked. ^ stound — moment. 



148 Notes 

Toward the heaven, for to crave 

Her woeful soul that she may save. 

And with this noise and with this cry 

Out of a barge fast by, 

Which hid was there on scomerfare, 

Men start out, and weren ware 

Of this felon : and he to go, 

And she began to cry tho,! 

Ha, mercy, help, for God's sake ! 

Into the barge they her take, 

As thieves should, and forth they went^ 

***** 
If so be that thy master would 
That I his gold increase should, 
It may not fall by this way ; 
But suffer me to go my way 
Out of this house, where I am in. 
And I shall make him for to win 
In some place else of the town, 
Be so it be of religion, 
Where that honest women dwell. 
And thus thou might thy master tell. 
That when I have a chamber there. 
Let him do cry ay wide-wliere,2 
What lord that hath his daughter dear, 
And is in will that she shall lere 3 
Of such a school as is true, 
I shall her teach of things new, 
Which that none other woman can 
In all this land. 

***** 
Her epitaph of good assise ^ 
Was writ about, and in this wise 
It spake : O ye that this behold, 
Lo, here lieth she, the which was hold 

1 Tho — then. ^ Lere — learn. 

"^ Wide-where — far and near. * y^^jw^— situation. 



Notes 149 



The fairest, and the flower of all, 
Whose name Taysis men call. 
The king of Tyre, Appollinus, 
Her father was : now lieth she thus. 
Fourteen year she was of age 
When death her took to his viage." i 

Act V. — "A messenger for her is gone. 

And she came with her harp on hond ; 

And she said them, that she would fonde 2 

By all the ways that she can 

To glad with this sorry man. 

But what he was she wist nought. 

But all the ship her hath besought, 

That she her wits on him despend,^ 

In aunter 4 if he might amend, 

And say it shall be well acquit. 

When she hath understonden it 

She goeth her down, there as he lay, 

Where that she harpeth many a lay. 

And like an angel sang withal. 

But he no more than the wall 

Took heed of anything he heard. 

And when she saw that he so ferde 5 

She falleth with him into words, 

And telleth him of sundry bordes,^ 

And asketh him demands strange. 

Whereof she made his heart change ; 

And to her speech his ear he laid, 

And hath marvel of that she said. 

For in proverb and in problem 

She spake, and bade he should deme ^* 

In many a subtile question ; 

1 Viage — journey. ^ Aunter — adventure. 

2 Fonde — try. 5 Ferde — fared. 

8 Despend — would expend. 6 Bordes — countries, 
7 Deme — judge. 



150 Notes 



But he for no suggestion 

Which toward him she could stere,! 

He would not o 2 word answer, 

But as a madman at the last, 

His head weeping away he cast, 

And half in wrath he bade her go : 

But yet she would nought do so ; 

And in the dark forth she goeth 

Till she him toucheth, and he wrothe,^ 

And after her with his hand 

He smote : and thus when she him found 

Diseased, courteously she said, — 

Avoy,4 my lord, I am a maid; 

And if ye wist what I am, 

And out of what lineage I came. 

Ye would not be so salvage. 

With that he sober'th his courage, 

And put away his heavy cheer ; 

But of them two a man may lere 

What is to be so sibbe ^ of blood 

None wist of other how it stood. 

And yet the father at last 

His heart upon this maid cast, 

That he her loveth kindly ; 

And yet he wist never why, 

But all was known ere that they went : 

For God, which wot their whole intent. 

Their hearts both he discloseth. 

The king unto this maid opposeth, 

And asketh first, what is her name. 

And where she learned all this game, 

And of what kin that she was come ; 

And she, that hath his words nome,6 

Answereth, and saith, My name is Thaise, 

1 Stere — stir. ■* Avoy — avoid. 

^ O — one. 5 Sibbe — related, 

s Wrothe — was angry. 6 Nome — taken. 



Notes 151 



That was some time well at ease. 

In Tharse I was forth draw and fed, 

There learned I till I was sped, 

Of that I can : my father eke, 

I not where that I should him seek : 

He was a king men told me, 

My mother drown'd was in the sea. 

From point to point all she him told 

That she hath long in heart hold, 

And never durst make her moan 

But only to this lord alone, 

To whom her heart cannot hele.i 

Turn it to woe, turn it to weal, 

Turn it to good, turn it to harm. 

And he then took her in his arm ; 

But such a joy as he then made 

Was never seen : thus be they glad 

That sorry hadden be to forn.2 

From this day forth fortune hath sworn 

To set them upward on the wheel : 

So goeth the world, now woe, now weal. 

With worthy knights environed. 
The king himself hath abandoned 
Into the temple in good intent. 
The door is up, and in he went, 
Where as, with great demotion v 
Of holy contemplation 
Within his heart, he made his shrift, 
And after that a rich gift 
He off 'reth with great reverence ; 
And there in open audience 
Of them that stooden all about 
He told them, and declareth out 
His hap, such as him is befall : 
There was no thing forget of all. 

1 fJele — hide. 2 7}; fom — before. 



152 Notes 



His wife, as it was God's grace, 
Which was professed in the place 
As she that was abbess there. 
Unto his tale hath laid her ear. 
She knew the voice, and the visage : 
For pure joy, as in a rage. 
She stretch'd unto him all at once, 
And fell a swoon upon the stones 
Whereof the temple-floor was paved. 
She was anon with water laved, 
Till she came to herself again, 
And then she began to seyn, 
Ah, blessed be the high soonde,i 
That I may see mine husband. 
Which Whilom he and I were one. 

***** 
Attaint they weren by the law, 
And doomed for to hang, and draw. 
And brent, and with the wind to blow, 
That all the world it might know. 
And upon this condition 

The doom in execution 
Was put anon without fail. 
And every man hath great marvel 
Which heard tellen of this chance, 
And thanketh God's purveyance, 
Which doth mercy forth with justice. 
Slain is the murd'rer, and murd'ress, 
Through very truth of righteousness ; 
And through mercy safe is simplesse 2 
Of her, whom mercy preserveth. 
Thus hath he well, that well deserveth." 

Dramatis Persons. — No list of Dramatis Personse is found in 
the quartos. It is first given at the end of the play in the 3d folio, 
where it is headed " The Actors name." Antiochus is there described 

1 Soonde — gift. 2 Simplesse — simplicity. 



Notes 1 53 



as "a Tyrant of Greece." Then follows " Hesperides Daughter to 
Antiochus." Dionyza is called " Dionysia," and Mytilene " Metaline." 
Another character is introduced, namely, " Philoten Daughter to 
Cleon." The errors and omissions were partly corrected by Rowe and 
partly by Malone (Cambridge ed.). 



ACT I 

In the quartos there is no division into acts or scenes. In the 
folios the acts are marked (the first being headed " Actus Primus. 
Scena Prima ^^^, but not the scenes. 

Gower's Prologue. — Gower of course appears as the ghost of 
the poet. Accordingly, in his last speech (v. 2. 2), he reminds us 
that he will soon be " dumb," and that this is his "last boon" be- 
fore leaving the upper world. 

1. That old. Steevens reads "of old" (the conjecture of 
Malone) ; but the expression is probably intended as an archaism. 

2. Come. Steevens conjectures " sprung," for the rhyme. 

6. Holy-ales. Rural festivals. Cf. Launce's pun in T. G. of V. 
ii. 5. 61 : "to go to the ale with a Christian." The early eds. here 
have " holydayes," " holy dayes," " holy-daies," etc, ; corrected by 
Steevens. A rhyme is evidently required. Ember-eves are the 
eves of the ember-days, or days of fasting. 

7. In their lives. Malone changes in to "of" (the conjecture 
of Farmer). 

9. Purchase. Gain, profit (from reading the tale) ; changed by 
Malone to " purpose." Cf. i. 2. 72 below. 

ID. Et bonum, etc. And a good thing, the older the better. 
The original saying, as Steevens notes, has " communius " for 
antiquius. 

13. And that. And if. 

15. I life would wish, etc. Mr. Robert Boyle, in his paper "On 
Wilkins's Share in the Play called Shakspere's Pericles^'' (read 
before the New Shaks. Soc. March 10, 1882, and printed in the 



154 Notes [Act I 

Transactions, p. 321), compares The Travels of Three English 
Brothers (see p. 17 above) : "Our lives are lighted tapers that 
must out." 

16. Waste. Spend. Cf. M. of F. iii. 4. 12 : " converse and 
waste the time together," etc. 

19. His chief est seat. Steevens quotes Twine (see p. 11 above) : 
" The most famous and mighty King Antiochus, which builded the 
goodlie city of Antiochia in Syria, and called it after his owne 
name, as the chiefest seat of all his dominions." 

21. Fere. Mate, partner ; as in 7". ^. iv. 1.89: — 

" the woful fere 
And father of that chaste dishonour'd dame." 

Cf. Spenser, F. Q. i. 10. 4 : — 

" But faire Charissa to a lovely fere 
Was lincked, and by him had many pledges dere ; " 

Id. iv. 3. 52 : "And Cambel tooke Cambina to his fere," etc. 
The early eds. have " peere " or " peer ; " corrected by Malone. 
The MS. probably had "pheere." 

23. Buxom. Lively, fresh ; a word which S. puts only into the 
mouth of Pistol {^Hen. V. iii. 6. 27). Cf. Milton, L Allegro, 24; 
" buxom, blithe, and debonair." 

FiM of face. " Completely, exuberantly beautiful " (Malone). 

24. As. As if. Cf. i. I. 16 below. 

29. But custom. Malone reads "By" for But, "perhaps not 
making sufficient allowance for the inaccurate style" (Dyce). 

30. Account. The quartos have " account'd " or " accounted," 
and the folios " counted." Account is the emendation of Malone. 

32. Thither frame. " Shape or direct their course thither " 
(Malone). No similar use oi frame has been pointed out. 

36. To keep her still, etc. " To keep her still to himself, and to 
deter others" froiri demanding her in marriage " (Malone) . 

39. A wight. The folio reading ; the quartos have " of wight." 



Scene I] Notes 155 

vS. uses "cvight ( = person) in Af. W. i. 3. ^^, L, L. L.'x. i. 178, T. 
and C. iv. 2. 12 (where it is feminine), etc. 

40. Yon grim looks. Referring to the heads of the suitors who 
had failed to read the riddle, and whose heads were fixed over the 
palace gate. Cf. Gower's poem, p. 136 above. 

41. Now. In the first three quartos, but omitted in the other 
early eds. 

42. Who. Referring to judgment. For justify the folios have 
" testifie." 

Scene I. — i. Prince. As the father of Pericles does not 
appear to be living, this must be = " prince regnant," as Malone 
remarks. Twine repeatedly calls him "prince of Tyrus." 

6. Bring in, etc. The early eds. have " Musicke (or " Musick ") 
bring in," etc. Malone was the first to see that a stage-direction 
had slipped into the text. 

7. For the. Fit for the. The is not in the early eds., but is due 
to Malone. 

8. Whose. Referring, like her in the next line, to daughter. 
For Lucina (the goddess who presided over childbirth), cf. iii. 

I. 10 below, and Cymb. v. 4. 43. 

10. The senate-hotise, etc. That is, that the planets should sit 
in council in order to endow her, etc. Steevens quotes Sidney, 
Arcadia : *' The senate-house of the planets was at no time so set 
for the decreeing of perfection in a man," etc. ; and Milton, P. L. 
viii. 511 : — 

" all heaven, 
And happy constellations, on that hour 
Shed their selectest influence." 

13. Graces her subjects, etc. The Graces being her subjects, and 
her thoughts the sovereign of every virtue that ennobles humanity. 

15. Her face the book, etc. "Her face is as a book containing 
all that is praiseworthy" (Clarke). Cf. R. and J. i. 3. 81 : — 



156 Notes [Act I 

" Read o'er the volume of young Paris' face, 
And find delight writ there with beauty's pen ; " 

Macb. i. 5. 63 : — 

" Your face, my thane, is as a book, where men 
May read strange matters ; " 

and L. L. Z. iv. 2. 113 : — 

" Study his bias leaves, and make his book thine eyes 
Where all those pleasures live that art could comprehend." 

See also K.John, ii. i. 485, 0th. iv. 2. 71, etc. 

16. As. As if. Cf. prol. 24 above. For raz^d (Malone's cor- 
rection) the early eds. have "racte," "racket," or " rackt." 

18. Her mild companion. "The companion of her mildness" 
(Mason). For many similar instances of the use of the adjective, 
see Schmidt, Lexicon, p. 141 6. 

19. Glad. Used as a verb four times in the non-Shakespearian 
part of the play; as also in T. A.'\. i. 166, 3 Hen. VI. iv. 6. 93, 
Hen. VIII. ii. 4. 196, v. i. 71. 

20. In my breast. The folios have "with in" or "within." 
Desire is probably a trisyllable, as Malone makes it. 

24. Boundless. The early eds. all have " bondlesse ; " corrected 
by Rowe. 

27. Hesperides. That is, the Garden of the Hesperides ; as in 
Z. Z. Z. iv. 3. 341 : " climbing trees in the Hesperides." 

It was probably a misunderstanding of the present passage that 
led to the insertion of Hesperides as the name of the daughter of 
Antiochus in the Dramatis Personce of 3d folio. See p. 153 above. 

29. Death-like dragons. That is, deadly dragons. Daniel reads 
" For death, like dragons, here affrights," etc. 

31. Countless. Infinite. "The poet was probably thinking of 
the countless eyes of heaven, as he calls them in 73 below" 
(Malone). 



Scene I] Notes 157 

^;^. Thy whole heap, etc. " Thy whole mass must be destroyed. 
Thy whole heap, thy body, must suffer for the offence of a part, 
thine eye" (Malone). The early eds. have "the" for thy. 

34. Sometimes. Formerly ; changed by Malone to " sometime ; " 
but sometimes is often an adjective in S. and other vi^riters of the 
time. 

40. For. For fear of. Cf. T. G. of V. i. 2. 136, etc. Daniel 
conjectures "met" ( = "boundary, limit") for itet. 

44. To what I must. " That is, to prepare this body for the 
state to which I must come" (Malone). 

46. Who. Which ; as often. Cf. prol. 42 above. 

48. Who know the world, etc. " I will act as sick men do ; who, 
having had experience of the pleasures of the world, and only a 
visionary and distant prospect of heaven, have neglected the latter 
for the former ; but at length feeling themselves decaying, grasp no 
longer at temporal pleasures, but prepare calmly for futurity" 
(Malone). 

55-57. / wait, etc. The ist quarto (followed substantially by 
the others) reads : — 

" I wayte the sharpest blow {Antiochus) 
Scorning aduice ; read the conclusion then : 
Which read," etc. 

The folios have : — 

" I waite the sharpest blow {Anfiochtis) 
Scorning advice. Reade the conclusion then. 
Ant. Which read," etc. 

The arrangement in the text is Malone's, and is generally adopted. 

59. Of all safd. Of all who have assayed, or made the trial. 
Cf. the noun say in Lear, v. 3. 144. Mason conjectured "In all, 
save that, mayst," etc. 

62. Nor ask advice, etc. As Steevens notes, this is from Sid- 
ney's Arcadia : " Whereupon asking advice of no other thought 
but faithfulnesse and courage," etc. 



158 Notes [Act I 

64. I am no viper, etc. Mr. R. Boyle (see on i. prol. 15 above) 
compares Miseries of Inf or ced Marriage (cf. p. 24 above) : — 

''John. He is more degenerate 
Than greedy vipers that devour their mother, 
They eat on her but to preserve themselves. 

Butler. But will not suffer 
The husband, viper-like, to prey on them 
That love him, and have cherished him." 

For the form of the riddle in Gov^^er, see p. 137 above. 

70. They, The reading in Wilkins's novel is " this," vi^hich 
Hudson adopts. 

72. Sharp physic is the last. " That is, the intimation in the 
last line of the riddle that his life depends on resolving it" 
(Percy). 

73. Give. The early eds. have " gives." 

74. Cloud. The 6th quarto and the folios misprint " could. " 
76. Fair glass of light. Schmidt explains, doubtfully, as "reflec- 
tion, image of light." It may mean " mirror of brilliancy, or shin- 
ing beauty," as Mr. Rounds suggests. Mr. Tyler, having regard to 
the v^'ords glorious casket, thinks that the idea may be that of a 
" resplendent and dazzling glass vase." 

81. Sense. Sensual appetite; as \n M. for M. i. 4. 59, ii. 2. 169, 
etc. 

87. Touch not, etc. Steevens remarks : " This is a stroke of 
nature. The incestuous king cannot bear to see a rival touch the 
hand of the woman he loves. His jealousy resembles that of An- 
tony \_A. and C. iii. 13. 125] : — 

" ' to let him be familiar with 
My playfellow, your hand," etc." 

93. Braid. Reproach. The verb is found in some old diction- 
aries — Huloet's, for instance, which has also <^ra?V(?;- = upbraider. 
Nares quotes the Mirror for Magistrates : " And ask forgivenesse 



Scene I] Notes 1^9 

for the hastie braid." Many editors follow Malone in printing 
" 'braid," as if contracted from upbraid. 

96. For vice repeated, etc. He who reports vicious actions is 
like the wind, which, while it passes along, blows dust in men's 
eyes. When it has passed, the eyes, though sore, see clear enough 
to stop for the future the air that would hurt them. 

!00. The blind mole, etc. Critics who believe that S. had some 
hand in the first two acts quote this passage as clearly Shake- 
spearian. Herford remarks that the lines are " sharply contrasted, 
in their careless nobility of phrase and their defiance of rhythmic 
symmetries, with the careful rhetoric in which they are embodied." 
It is the only passage that he and others praise in this way; but 
inferior poets now and then strike a note or two above their aver- 
age strain. So good a critic as Sidney Lee believes that S. wrote 
Wolsey's " Farewell " in Hen. VIII. ; but, as Dowden says, " it is 
certainly Fletcher's, and when one has perceived this, one perceives 
also that it was an error ever to suppose it written in Shakespeare's 
manner." Many similar instances of seeing the master dramatist 
in scattered passages that cannot be his, though occurring in plays 
in which he may have had some share, might be cited. 

loi. Copped. "Rising to a top or head " (Steevens). Sandys, 
in his Travels, speaks of *•' copped caps," and Gascoigne (Hearbes) 
of "high-copt hats." Cf. T. of S.\. i. 60: "a copatain hat." 
For throng' d Steevens reads "wrong'd." 

102. Poor worm. The mole is so called out of pity. Steevens 
compares Temp. iii. i. 31 : " Poor worm ! thou art infected." 

107. First. Found only in the 1st and 2d quartos. 

no. Gloze. Use flattery or deceit. Cf. Rich. II. ii. i. 10 : "they 
whom youth and ease have taught to gloze," etc. 

III. Edict. Accented by Elizabethan writers on either syllable, 
according to the measure. 

113. Cancel of. The quartos have "counsell of," the folios 
" cancel off." The text is due to Malone, who is probably right in 
regarding cancel as a noun. 



1 60 Notes [Act 1 

114. Tree. Strangely used, and perhaps corrupt. 

116. Forty days. In the old versions of the story, Twine's in- 
cluded, the number is thirty. 

119. Entertain. Not used as a noun by S. 

127. Where. Whereas. Cf. T. G. of V. iii. i. 74, Cor, i. i. 104, 
etc. For you ''re the quartos all have " you." 

129. Pleasure. The early eds. have "pleasures; " corrected by 
Rowe. 

135. Blush not. That is, who blush not. 

136. Shtm. The early eds. have "shew;" corrected by 
Malone. 

139. Sin. Collier conjectures " blame," for the sake of the 
rhyme. 

143. The which. The early eds. omit the. 

150. There? The folios have " here." 

152. Partakes. Imparts. Cf. W. 7". v. 3. 132; the only instance 
of this sense in S. 

163. Like. The quarto reading, changed in the folios to "as." 
Cf. ii. 4. 36 below. 

165. Level. Aim ; as in ii. 3. 114 below. Cf. Rich. ILL. iv. 4. 
202, etc. 

168. PistoVs length. For the anachronism, cf. I Hen. IV. ii. 4. 
380, etc. 

Scene II. — i. Change of thoughts. "That change in the- dis- 
position of his mind — that unusual propensity to melancholy and 
cares, which he afterwards describes, and which made his body pine 
and his soul to languish" (Mason). Malone and Steevens read 
" charge of thoughts," and the former takes thoughts to be = melan- 
choly ; a sense which it sometimes has in the singular, but rarely, if 
ever, in the plural. Singer (2d ed.) reads " charge our thoughts," 
and Staunton conjectures " change our thoughts." 

3. Be my. The early eds. have " By me ; " corrected by Dyce 
(the independent conjecture of Verplanck). As = that. 



Scene II] Notes i6i 

8. Arm. Changed by Dyce to " aim." Cf. T. and C. ii. 3. 15 : 
" short-armed ignorance ; " where some want to read " short- 
aimed." 

15. Cares it be not done. Is anxious lest it be done. 

18. So great can make. So great that he can make. Cf. 25 just 
below. 

20. Honour him. The early eds. omit ki7n, which Rowe 
supplied, 

25. The ostent. The display. The early eds. have "the stint ;" 
corrected by Malone (the conjecture of Tyrwhitt). Steevens quotes 
Dekker, Entertainment of Jatnes I., 1604: "And why you bear 
alone, th' ostent of warre," 

26. Amazement. Bewilderment. 

30. Who am. The early eds. have " once " for am^ which was 
suggested by Farmer. 

31. Fence. Guard, protect. 

41. Heat. The 1st quarto has "heate," the other early eds. 
"heart." For blast (Mason's conjecture) the early eds. have 
"sparke " or "spark." 

44. Signior Sooth. " A near kinsman of this gentleman is men- 
tioned in W. T. [i. 2. 196] : 'Sir Smile, his neighbour'" (Malone). 
For sooth = flattery or flattering assent, cf. Rich. II. iii. 3. 136. 
The early eds. omit a^. 

55. Plants. The reading of the ist quarto ; " planets " in all the 
other early eds. 

62. Let their ears hear their faults hid ! " Suffer their ears to 
hear their failings palliated " (Holt White) ; listen to the flattery 
which hides (or ignores) their faults. Dyce changes hid to " chid," 
taking let to be = hinder. The emendation is plausible, but not 
absolutely required. 

64. Mak'st. The early eds. have " makes." So in 68 below 
they have "ministers" (" minister's " in 3d folio). 

74. Are arms to princes. " Such as bring additional strength to 
princes and joy to their subjects " (Mason). Steevens reads "Bring 

PERICLES — II 



1 62 Notes [Act I 

arms to princes and to subjects joy." White thinks a line has been 
lost before this one. 

78. Sjuooth. Flatter. Cf. i?zV/?. ///. i. 2, 169: "smooth, deceive, 
and cog," etc. 

82. Who. Which. Cf. i. i. 46 above. 

%2i' Bethought me. The early eds. omit me. w^hich is due to 
Rovv^e. 

86. Doubt it. Suspect it, fear it. Cf. i. 3. 22 below. The first 
three quartos have " doo't," the other early eds. " thinke " or 
*' think." The emendation was suggested by Steevens, and is 
confirmed by lop that doubt below. 

92. Call V. The early eds. have " call," which the Cambridge 
ed. retains. 

93. Spares. The reading of ist quarto; "feares" or "fears" 
in the other early eds. 

95. Reprov'st, The early eds. have " reprou'dst," " reprovedst," 
or " reproved'st." 

100. Grievco The reading of the 5th quarto ; the other early 
eds. add " for." 

116. Intend. Schmidt makes this = "bend, direct" (compar- 
ing I Hen. IV. i. i. 92, A. and C. v. 2. 201, etc.); but it may have 
its ordinary sense. 

122. Orbs. Spheres. Cf. i Hen. IV. v. i. 17; — 

" And move in that obedient orb again 
Where you did give a fair and natural light," etc. 

The allusion is to the crystalline spheres of the Ptolemaic astronomy. 
We '//. The ist quarto has "will," the other early eds. "we ; " 
corrected by Malone. 

123. Convince. Overcome, confute. Cf. Cymb. i, 4. 104, etc. 

124. Shine. For the noun, cf. V. and A. /^SS, 728, and T. of A. 
iii. 5. loi. 

Scene III. — 4. A zvise fellow. "Who this wise fellow was may 
be known from Barnabie Riche's Souldier^s Wishe to Briton's 



Scene IV] Notes 163 

Welfare, 1604: 'I will therefore commende the poet Philipides, 
who being demanded by King Lisimachus, what favour he might 
doe unto him for that he loved him, made this answere to the 
king, that your majesty would never impart unto me any of your 
secrets'" (Steevens). 

9. Hush ! The early eds. all have " Husht," which was an occa- 
sional form of hush. 

22. Doubting. Fearing. See on i. 2. 86 above. 

24. Shipman. Cf. T. and C. v. 2. 172 and Macb. i. 3. 17. 

25. Life or death. The writer doubtless meant that life or death 
was the question each minute. Hudson reads " life with death " 
(the conjecture of Daniel). 

28. The kiftg's ears it must please. The early eds. have " the 
King's Seas must please," which Malone takes to mean " must do 
their pleasure, must treat him as they will." Percy conjectures 
" the king it sure must please." Knight reads " the king sure must 
please," and Collier, " the king's ease must please." The text is 
the conjecture of Dyce and is the best solution of the enigma that 
has been proposed. 

37. Desire it. Malone suggested the addition of " told." 
Hudson reads " inquire of it " (Walker had conjectured " inquire 
it"). 

38. Commended. That is, you being commended. 

Scene IV. — 8. Mischiefs. If this be the author's word, it must 
be used in a subjective sense = " misery's," which Hudson substi- 
tutes (the conjecture of Walker). Steevens reads "mistful," and 
Singer "mistie." Malone changes and seen to "unseen." 

9. Topp''d. Lopped. The trees only grow the higher for it ; 
and so with the griefs if we attempt to console ourselves by talking 
of the griefs of others. 

13. Our tongues and sorrows do sound deep. Hudson reads 
" Our tongues do sound our sorrows and deep woes." 

15. Tongues. Steevens conjectures "lungs," which some adopt. 



164 Notes [Act I 

Clarke compares Rich. II. i. 3. 173: "Which robs my tongue from 
breathing native breath ; " and Id. i. 3. 257 : — 

" When the tongue s ofhce should be prodigal 
To breathe the abundant dolour of the heart." 

16. Heaven. Cf. Macb. ii. i. 4: — 

" There 's husbandry in heaven ; 
Their candles are all out." 

For other instances of the plural, see Rich. II. i. 2. 6, Haju. iii. 4. 
173, 0th. iv. 2. 47, etc. 

17. Helps. The old eds. have "helpers ; " corrected by Malone. 

18. Discourse our woes. Staunton conjectures "discourse of 
woes ; " but cf. M. N. D. iv. 2. 29 : "I am to discourse wonders," 
etc. 

23. Riches. Singular, as the word originally was (Fr. richesse). 
Cf. Sonn. 87. 6, 0th. ii. i. %'i, iii. 3. 173, etc. Steevens would make 
Tarsus the subject of strew' d^ taking for riches to be = " with 
respect to riches." 

26. Jetted. Strutted, stalked. Cf. T. N. ii. 5. 36 : " how he jets 
under his advanced plumes ! " 

27. One another's glass. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. ii. 3. 21 : — 

" he was indeed the glass 
Wherein the noble youth did dress themselves." 

See also Ham. iii. i. 161, Cyjnb. i. i. 49, etc. 

34. Who. Changed by Malone to "whom;" but this use of 
who is common. 

39. Not yet two siwimers younger. The ist quarto has "not 
yet two sauers younger," which is repeated essentially by the other 
early eds. Malone and Knight read " us'd to hunger's savour," 
and White has " us'd to savour hunger." The text is the conjec- 
ture of Mason, and, as the Cambridge editors remark, is supported 
by the following from Wilkins's novel : "The ground of which forced 
lamentation was, to see the power of change, that this their City, 



Scene IV] Notes 165 

who not two summers younger, did so excell in pompe," etc. The 
meaning is, "Those palates which, less than two years ago, required 
some new inventions of cookery to delight their taste, would now 
be glad of plain bread" (Mason). 

42. Nousle. Nurse, cherish. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. i. 6. 23 : — 

" Whom, till to ryper years he gan aspyre, 
He nousled up in life and manners wilde; " 

Id.\. I. 6: "In which she noursled him till yeares he raught ; " 
Id. vi. 4. 35 : " Or noursle up in lore of learn'd Philosophy," etc. 

43. Curious. Elegant, nice ; as in 3 Hen. VI. ii. 5. 53 : " couched 
in a curious bed; " Cymb. v. 5. 361 : "lapp'd In a most curious 
mantle," etc. 

54. Hear. Changed by some to " heed." Cf. Cymb. iv. 3. 36 : — 

" I heard no letter from my master since 
I wrote him Imogen was slain." 

We often speak of hearing what we have learned by means of 
letters or in other ways than hear strictly implies. 

61. Sail. Fleet ; not used by S. in this sense. 

65. Nation, A trisyllable. 

67. Hath. The early eds. all have " That ; " corrected by Rowe, 

69. Unhappy me. Malone changes me to " men," and Steevens 
conjectures " we." 

70. Whereas. Where. Cf. 2 Hen. VI. i. 2. 58, etc. To over- 
come ■=■ by overcoming, or victory. 

71. Semblance. A trisyllable. See p. 132 above. 

74. Like hit7z 'j. " like him who is ; " which Steevens was in- 
clined to read, making Thou speak' st a separate line. For him 's 
the early eds. have "himmes," "hymmes," "hymnes," "hymns," 
etc. 

83. Consist. Insist. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. iv. i. 187. 

92. Happily. Haply ; as not unfrequently. 

93. Was stuffed. Which was stuffed. Some editors adopt Stee- 
vens's conjecture of " war-stuff 'd." 



1 66 Notes [Act II 

94. Veins. The persons enclosed form, as it were, the veins 
(the blood or life) of the wooden horse. Malone has " views " 
(proposed by Steevens), and Collier conjectures "bones." Ex- 
pecting overthrow refers to you. 

98. Arise. Changed by Steevens to "Rise." For rise, all the 
early eds. but the ist quarto have " arise," which Rowe adopts. 

102. In thought. Even in thought. Malone conjectures "in 
aught." 

ACT II 

Gower's Prologue. — 2. / wis. I know ; as iwis or ywis 
(the adverb = certainly) came to be understood. 

3. Benign. Accented on the first syllable. The word does not 
occur in S. 

4. Awful. Full of awe, reverent, or " conscientious " (Schmidt). 
Cf. T. G. of V. iv. I. 46: "awful men," etc. 

7. / '// show you those, etc. " I will now exhibit to you persons 
who, after suffering small and temporary evils, will at length be 
blessed with happiness" (Malone). The title of the chapter in 
the Gesta Romanoru^n in which the story of Appolinus is told is 
" De tribulatione temporali quae in gaudium sempiternum pos- 
tremo commutabitur." 

9. Conversation. Conduct. Cf. A. and C. ii. 6. 131 or 2 Hen. IV. 
V. 5. 106. Steevens cites 2 Peter, iii. 11. Gower means to say 
" The good prince (on whom I bestow my best wishes) is still at 
Tarsus, where every man," etc. 

12. Thinks all is writ. , Probably = thinks all is as holy writ. 

Speken. The early eds. all have " spoken ; " corrected by White. 
Speken is an obsolete form of speak. Cf. killen in 20 below. 

14. Build. Steevens would read " Gild," quoting Gower's de- 
scription of the statue : " It was of laton over-gylte." 

19. Though he strive. The early eds. have "for though," for 
which Steevens conjectures "forth "(= "thoroughly," for which 



Prologue] Notes 167 

meaning he thinks he finds authority in M.forM. v. i. 255), and 
Singer and White read " for-thy " (= therefore). Hudson is prob- 
ably right in dropping " for," but I cannot accept his interpreta- 
tion of though, which he makes = " since, for, because," though I 
have no better one to suggest. It is a sufficient objection to the 
emendations of Steevens and Singer that they would require strives 
rather than strive. 

21. Prince'. The early eds. have "prince" or "princes." Ma- 
lone is doubtless right in considering the word one of the contracted 
possessives not unfrequently found in S. Cf. Rich. III. i. 4. 191 : 
" poor Clarence' death," etc. See also p. 132 above. 

22. Sends word. The early eds. have " Sau'd one " or " Sav'd 
one." The emendation (which Halliwell-Phillipps says was sug- 
gested to Steevens by a MS. note of Theobald's) is confirmed by 
Wilkins's novel : " Good Helycanus as prouident at home, as his 
Prince was prosperous abroade, let no occasion slip wherein hee 
might send word to Tarsus of what occurrents soeuer had hap- 
pened in his absence," etc. 

27. Doing so. That is, as Helicanus recommended. Steevens 
conjectures "knowing so," which some adopt, 

28. Been. Archaic for are. Most of the early eds. have " bin," 
a common spelling in old writers. 

32. Wracked. All the early eds. have "wrackt," the only form 
in S. for verb or noun. Note the rhyme in iv. prol. 11, 12 below. 

36. Escapen. The early eds. have "escapend" or "escapen'd; " 
corrected by Steevens (the conjecture of Percy). See on 12 above. 
Ne ■= nor, as often in Old English. 

38. Give him glad. Percy conjectures " make " for ^zz^^ / but 
the expression is doubtless meant to be an archaism. Steevens 
remarks : " The language of our fictitious Gower is so often irrec- 
oncilable to the practice of any age that criticism on such bungling 
imitations is almost thrown away." 

40. This longs the text. This belongs to the text. Even here 
some editors print " 'longs," but it is not a contraction of belo7tgs. 



1 68 Notes [Act 11 

Scene I. — Pentapolis. One of the names given to the district 
of North Africa otherwise known as Cyrenaica. It is found in all 
the old versions of the story. 

6. Me breath. The early eds. have " my breath." 

12. What, ho. Pilch ! The early eds. have "what, to pelch ? " 
The correction is Malone's. Pilch meant a leathern coat, and is 
put for the wearer, like Patch-breech just below. 

17. Wanion. "Used only in the phrase with a wanion, but 
totally unexplained, though exceedingly common in use ; seemingly 
= with a vengeance, or with a plague" (Nares). S. does not use 
the word. 

21. Alas, poor souls, etc. Cf. W. 7". iii. 3. 91 fol. : "O, the most 
piteous cry of the poor souls ! " etc. 

26. Porpus. Porpoise; spelt "porpas" in all the early eds. 
The notion that the appearance of porpoises forebodes a storm is 
very old. Malone quotes Webster, Duchess of Malfi : " He lifts 
his nose like a foul porpus before a storm." 

30. A-land. Steevens says that the word occurs several times 
in Twine's novel. The hyphen is found only in the ist quarto. Cf. 
iii. 2. 69 below. 

The great ones eat up the little ones. Mr. R. Boyle (see on i. 
proL 15 above) compares Wilkins's Miseries of Inforced Mar- 
riage : — 

" These men, like fish, do swim within one stream, 
Yet they 'd eat one another ; " 

and Day's Law Tricks (in which he thinks Wilkins had a share), 
i. 2: — 

"Joculo. But, madam, do you remember what a multitude of fishes 
we saw at sea ? and I do wonder how they can all live by one another. 

Emilia. Why, fool, as men do on the land ; the great ones eat up 
the little ones." 

Again, in the same play, we find : — 

" Adam. I knew one of that faculty in one term eat up a whole town, 
church, steeple, and all, 



Scene I] Notes 1 69 

Julio. I wonder the bells rung not all in his belly." 

51. Finny. The early eds. have "fenny." The correction is 
supported by Wilkins's novel : " Prince Pericles wondering that 
from the finny subjects of the sea these poore country people 
learned the infirmities of men." 

55. Honest, Often used in addressing inferiors. Cf. Z. Z. Z. 
V. I. 162: "honest Dull;" M. N. D. iii. i. 48: "Your name, 
honest gentleman," etc. 

57. If it be a day fits you, search, etc. The text is doubtless 
corrupt, and has been variously emended. Malone reads " scratch 
it" (the conjecture of Steevens) for search, and Hudson adopts the 
anonymous conjecture "steal 't." Clarke thinks the meaning may 
be "search it out " (that is, "with intention to take"), and nobody 
" will look after it." Farmer thinks that in honest there may be 
an allusion to the dies honestissimus of Cicero. Malone remarks : 
" Some difficulty, however, will remain, unless we suppose a pre- 
ceding line to have been lost ; for Pericles has said nothing about 
the day. I suspect that in the lost line he wished the men a good 
day.^^ Knight, who retains the old text, asks : " Does it not mean 
that the fisherman, laughing at the rarity of being honest, remarks, 
If it be a day (that is, a saint's or red-letter day) fits you, search 
out of (not in^ the calendar, and nobody look after it (there, as it 
would be useless) ? " 

59. You may see, etc. The quartos read : " May see the sea hath 
cast upon your coast ; " and the folios : " Y' may see the sea hath 
cast me upon your coast." The text is due to Malone (ed. 1780), 
but he afterwards adopted the conjecture of Steevens : " Nay, see, 
the sea hath cast upon your coast — ; " the sentence being con- 
tinued, after the interruption by the fisherman, with "A man 
whom," etc. White believes that " a speech, or more, preceding 
this one has been lost." 

63. In that vast tennis-court, etc. Boyle quotes The Travels of 
the Three Ettglish Brothers (see p. 17 above) : — 



lyo Notes [Act ii 

" Think that the seas 
Play'd with us but as great men die a-land, 
Hurl'd us now up, now down." 

Steevens compares Sidney, Arcadia : " In such a shadow . » . man- 
kind lives, that neither they know how to foresee, nor what to feare, 
and are, like tenis bals, tossed by the racket of the higher powers." 

For hath J7iade, the reading of all the early eds., and probably a 
" confusion of construction " on the part of the writer, Dyce reads 
"have made." 

76. Throng' d up. "Filled completely, possessed entirely" 
(Schmidt); or "hard pressed, beset" (Clarke). Cf. i. i. loi 
above. Steevens conjectures " shrunk up." 

81. Quoth-a? The early eds. all have "ke-tha; " corrected by 
Malone. 

83. Afore me. By my life, on my soul. Cf. R. and J. iii. 4. 34 : 
" Afore me, it is so very late," etc. 

84. Holidays. The early eds. have " all day ; " corrected by 
Malone. 

85. Mored'er. Farmer's correction of the "more ; or" of the 
early eds. 

86. Flap-jacks. Pancakes. The 'word is obsolete in England, 
though in familiar use in New England. It is not used by S. 

93. Whipped. The regular punishment for vagrants in the 
time of S. Players were liable to be counted vagrants ; and Tyler 
sees an allusion to this in Ham. iii. 2. 555. 

95. O, not all. Walker conjectures " O, no, not all." 

104. Pentapolis. The quartos spell it " Pantapoles," and the 
folios " Pantapolis." 

116. Just. Tilt. Cf. the noun in Rich. II. v. 2. 52. 

121. What a man cannot get, etc. The meaning seems to be 
that " what a man cannot accomplish he may lawfully endeavour 
to obtain " (Mason) ; but what his wife^s soul has to do with it is 
not so clear. As Knight remarks, " there are more riddles in this 
play than that of Antiochus." Clarke explains it thus : " A man 



Scene I] Notes 171 

who has not much chance of getting his wife's soul out of purga- 
tory may nevertheless pay for masses with that view." Steevens 
conjectures that His wife^s soul begins a new sentence, which is 
interrupted by the next speaker. Tyler suggests " steal " for deal ; 
that is, " a man may steal for his wife's salvation." I am inclined 
to agree with White that something has probably been lost. 

125. Bots on V / A comic execration found in sundry old writers. 
Percy quotes the ballad of The Miller of Mansfield : "Quoth Dick, 
a bots on you ! " 

128. Thy crosses. The early eds. omit thy, which Delius sup- 
plied from Wilkins's novel. Malone reads "my." 

130. And though. Walker conjectures " An though." "I thank 
you" is understood before though, being implied in Thanks, fortune. 

134. Brace. Armour for the arm. Cf. its figurative use in 0th. 
i. 3. 24 : " in such warlike brace." We find vantbrace in T. and 

a i. 3. 297. 

136. The which, etc. Steevens reads " Which gods protect thee 
from! — it may," etc. The early eds. have "thee, Fame may" for 
thee from ! — U may, which is the reading of Malone. The Cam- 
bridge ed. has "from ! — may defend thee." 

138. Spare. The early eds. have " spares ; " corrected by 
Malone. 

149. Fortune's better. The reading of the early eds. Some 
editors adopt Mason's conjecture of "fortunes better," making 
better a verb. 

153. Do '<?. The reading of the ist quarto. The 2d and 3d 
quartos have "di'e," and the other early eds. omit it. Malone 
reads " do ye." 

157. Condolements. Blunderingly used by the fisherman — per- 
haps somehow confused with dole (= share, portion), for which see 

W. T. i. 2. 63 : " Happy man be his dole ! " (Happiness be his 
portion !), etc. 

158. Vails is explained by Schmidt as "money given to ser- 
vants," but it was also = avails. Some print " 'vails " here. 



172 Notes [Act II 

159. Had it. The early eds. have "had them; " corrected by 
Malone. 

161. Furtherance. Assistance ; a good word enough, though 
Steevens wanted to read " forbearance." 

162. Rapture. Violent seizure (the etymological sense), rob- 
bery. The early eds. have " rupture ; " but Rowe's emendation is 
confirmed by Wilkins's novel : " a jewel, whom all the raptures of 
the sea could not bereave from his arm." 

163. Building. A suspicious word, though it may possibly be 
= firm position, fixed place, as some explain it. Malone at first 
changed it to "gilding," but later he adopted Steevens's conjecture 
of " biding." " Binding " has also been suggested. His = its ; as 
often. For Jewel, as applied to any personal ornament or precious 
thing, cf. T. N. ii. 4. 125, ii. 5. 67, iii, 4. 228 (where it is a pic- 
ture), etc. 

164. Unto thy value. That is, according to it. Walker would 
change thy to " the." He asks, " Why should he apostrophize the 
jewel ?" Clarke aptly replies that " he does so in the sudden glad- 
ness of discovering that he still possesses this resource wherewith 
to purchase the horse he needs for the tournament." 

168. Bases. " A kind of embroidered mantle which hung down 
from the middle to about the knees or lower, worn by knights on 
horseback " (Nares). It must of course have consisted of two 
parts — a double skirt, perhaps. Steevens quotes Sidney, Arcadia: 
" About his middle he had, instead of bases, a long cloake of 
silke," etc. Mason adds, from Massinger's Picture : " Your petti- 
coat serves for bases to this warrior." 

172. A goal to. Dyce conjectures " but goal unto," and Staunton 
" equal to." 

Scene II. — i. Triumph 9 Tournament. The original mean- 
ing of the word (as often in the Roman plays of S.) was " the tri- 
umphal procession of a conqueror with his captives and spoils." 
But it came to be applied in feudal times, as Knight remarks, " to 



Scene II] Notes 173 

those ceremonials which the genius of chivalry had adopted from 
the mightier pomps of antiquity, imitating something of their splen- 
dour, but laying aside their stern demonstrations of outward exul- 
tation over their vanquished foes. There were no human captives 
in massive chains — no lions and elephants led along to the amphi- 
theatre, for the gratification of a turbulent populace. Edward 
[3 Hen. VI. v. 7. 41] exclaims of his prisoner Margaret : * Away 
with her, and waft her hence to France.' The dread of Cleopatra 
[/4. and C. v. 2. 55] was that of exposure in the triumph : — 

' Shall they hoist me up, 
And show me to the shouting varletry 
Of censuring Rome ? ' 

Here, then, was the difference of the Roman and the feudal man- 
ners. The triumphs of the Middle Ages were shows of peace, 
decorated with the pomp of arms ; but altogether mere scenic 
representations, deriving their name from the more solemn tri- 
umphs of antiquity. But they were not masques, as Malone has 
stated. The Duke of York, in Rich. II. [v. 2. 52], asks : 'What 
news from Oxford ? hold these justs and triumphs ? ' and for these 
' justs and triumphs ' Aumerle has prepared his 'gay apparel.' " In 
the present passage (as in Rich. 11.^ the reference is to a tourna- 
ment and its accompaniments. 

4. Our daughter. The early eds. add " heere " or " here," which 
Malone struck out. Return them = reply to them. 

14. Interpret. The early eds. have " entertaine " or " entertain." 
Many editors adopt Steevens's conjecture of " explain " (a word, by 
the by, not found in S.), but Schmidt's suggestion of interpret is 
more plausible. For honour ( = honourable duty or office), Steevens 
conjectures " office." 

21. lux ttia vita mihi. Thy light is my life. Word= motto. 

27. Piu por dtdzura, etc. More by gentleness than by force. 
The piu is Italian, the corresponding Spanish being mas. The 
two languages were much confused by the old writers. The early 
eds. print the motto thus : " Pue Per doleera kee per forsa." In 



174 Notes [Act 11 

Wilkins's novel it reads : " Pue per dolcera qui per sforsa." All 
the other mottos are Latin. 

30. Me povipae provexit apex. The crown of honour has led 
me on ; or " the desire of renown drew me to this enterprise " 
(Wilkins). The early eds. all have " Pompey" iox pojnpae, which 
was suggested by Steevens and is confirmed by Wilkins's novel. 

33. Quod me alit, me extinguit. That which feeds me extin- 
guishes me ; or " that which gives me life gives me death " (Wil- 
kins). The early eds. have "Qui" for Quod, which is due to 
Malone. 

34. His. Its. Walker conjectures " her." Cf. ii. i. 163 above. 
38. Sic spectanda fides. So faith is to be tested ; or " so faith 

is to be looked into " (Wilkins). 

42. Present. That which he presents or bears as a device. 
Singer changes it to "impress." 

44. In hac spe vivo. In this hope I live. 

49. Commend. Used by S. as a noun only in the plural. See 
M. of V. ii. 9. 90, Rich. II. iii. i. 38 and iii. 3. 126. 

51. The whipstock. "That is, the carter's whip " (Steevens). 

56. Opinion. Public opinion, reputation ; as often. 

57. The outzvard habit, etc. That is, the inward man by the 
outward dress. For examples of somewhat similar inversions, see 
Schmidt, Lexicon, p. 1424. Steevens would transpose outward 
and intuard. 

Scene IIL — 3. To place. The reading of the 4th folio; "I 
place " in all the other early eds. 

15. An artist. Changed by Steevens to " artists " (the conjec- 
ture of Malone). 

19. Marshal. All the early eds. have " Martiall " or " Martial ; " 
corrected by Malone. 

28, 29. By Jove . . . upon. Steevens would give these lines to 
Pericles, changing he to " she ; " but Wilkins's novel shows that 
they belong to Simonides, as in the early eds, : " As it were by 



Scene III] Notes ijt 

some divine operation, both king and daughter at one instant 
were so strucke in love with the nobleness of his woorth, that they 
could not spare so much time to satisfie themselves with the deli- 
cacie of their viands, for talking of his prayses." 

Gates. Dainties, delicacies. Cf. the play on the word in T. of S. 
ii. I. 190 : " For dainties are all Kates." 

Resist me. " Go against my stomach " (Steevens), are distaste- 
ful to me. 

He jiot thought upon. Some editors adopt Mason's conjecture 
of " but " for not ; but the old text may be explained as by Knight : 
" Simonides wonders that he cannot eat although he (Pericles) is 
not thought upon. This is an attempt to disguise the cause of his 
solicitude even to himself. It must be observed that the succeed- 
ing speeches of Simonides, Thaisa, and Pericles are all to be re- 
ceived as soliloquies. In the second speech, Simonides continues 
the idea oi he not thought upon by attempting to depreciate Pericles 
— ' He 's but a country gentleman.' " Verplanck, Dyce, and the 
Cambridge editors also retain not, though Dyce is inclined to 
favour " but." 

30. Marriage. A trisyllable. Cf. T. of S. iii. 2. 142, etc. 

34. Has. The ellipsis of the subject is not rare in Elizabethan 
writers when it can be readily supplied. 

42. Vail. Lower, let fall ; an obsolete word often confounded 
with veil, but of different origin. Cf. iv. prol. 29 below. 

43. Where. Whereas; as in i. I. 127 above. For j<?;z'^ the early 
eds. have " sonne," " sunne," or " son ; " corrected by Malone. 

46. For he V. The first three quartos have " He 's but ; " the 
other early eds. read as here. 

50. Stored. The early eds. have "stur'd," "sturd," or " stirr'd." 
The emendation is due to Steevens. 

63. Are wonder'' d at. " That is, when they are found to be such 
small insignificant animals, after making so great a noise" (Percy). 
" The worthless monarch and the idle gnat have only lived to make 
an empty bluster ; and when both alike are dead, we wonder how 



176 



Notes [Act II 



it happened that they made so much, or that we permitted them to 
make it " (Steevens) , Hudson adopts Daniel's over-ingenious 
emendation, " but still ne'er wonder'd at." 

64. Entrance. A trisyllable ; as in R. and J. i. 4. 8. The folios 
have " entrance now." Hudson adopts Walker's suggestion of 
"entertain." 

65. Standing-bowl. "A bowl resting on a foot "(Steevens). 
See the stage-direction in Hen. VIII. at the beginning of v. 5. 

69. For impudence. As prompted by immodesty. 

73. And furthermore, etc. Malone reads : " And further tell 
him, we desire to know, Of whence," etc. 

^82. My education been. The 5th quarto has "being" for been, 
and Singer conjectures " 's been ; " but Wilkins's novel has " his 
name Pericles; his education beene in artes and armes," etc. 

87-89. Malone " fixes up " the passage thus : — 

" A gentleman of Tyre, who only by 
Misfortune of the sea has been bereft 
Of ships and men, and cast upon this shore." 

94. Address' d. Prepared ; as often. Here, however, il may be 
= dressed, or arrayed, 

95. A soldier'' s dance. Malone says: "The dance here intro- 
duced is thus described in an ancient * Dialogue against the Abuse 
of Dancing ' (black letter, no date) : — 

' There is a dance call'd Choria, 
Which joy doth testify ; 
Another call'd Pyrricke 
Which warlike feats doth try. 
For men in armour gestures made, 
And leap'd, that so they might 
When need requires, be more prompt 
In public weal to fight.' " 

Cf. Byron, The Isles of Greece : — 

" You have the Pyrrhic dance as yet ; 
Where is the Pyrrhic phalanx gone ? 



Scene IV] Notes 177 

Of two such lessons why forget 
The nobler and the manlier one ? " 

97. Loud music. " The loud music made by the clashing of their 
armour" (Malone). 

loi. Breathing. Exercise. Cf. Ham. v. 2. 181 : "breathing 
time," etc. 

102. Have heard. Malone reads " have often heard." 

104. Measures. Slow and stately dances. Cf. Much Ado, ii. i. 
80, etc. 

114. Level. Aim; as in i. i. 165 above. 

116. Speeding. Achieving success. 

Scene IV. — 3-10. In the early eds. the lines of this corrupt 
passage end with minding, that, heinous, pride, seated in, daughter, 
shriveWd, and stunk. The modern editors have arranged them in 
various ways. I give 3-6 as Malone has them, and 7-10 as Dyce 
does. 

10. Their. The early eds. have "those ; " corrected by Steevens, 
and confirmed by Wilkins's novel. 

13-15. Arranged as by Malone. In the early eds. the lines end 
with great, shaft, and reivard. 

19. Grieve. Grieve or offend us. 

23. Griefs. Grievances ; as very often. 

31. Resolv''d. Satisfied ; as in ii. 5. 68 below. 

32. Give 's. Give us ; the reading of all the early eds. except the 
5th quarto, which omits the 'j. 

34. The strongest in our censure. " The most probable in our 
opinion" (Steevens). For censure, cf. Ham. i. 3. 69, i. 4. 35, iii. 2. 
30, 92, etc. 

36. LAke. As. See on i. i. 163 above. Malone makes the line 
a parenthesis, and reads " Soon will fall to ruin," which Steevens 
changes to " Will soon to ruin fall." 

38. Know, The reading of the first two quartos ; " knowes " or 
" knows " in the other early eds. Malone reads " know'st." 

PERICLES — I 2 



X 



178 Notes [Act II 

41. For honour'' s cause. The early eds. have "Try" instead of 
For, which was proposed by Dyce. 

43. Seas. That is, a sea of difficulty. Malone reads " seat." 

45. Entreat you. Steevens reads "then entreat," and Hudson 
" you entreat." 

46. To forbear. To bear, or bear with. Hudson reads " Still 
to forbear" (an anonymous conjecture). 

50. Nobles. Steevens reads " noblemen." 

56. Endeavotir it. Steevens supplied it, which is wanting in the 
early eds. The Globe ed. has " endeavour us." 

Scene V. — 2. This I let you know, etc. Clarke remarks : " The 
expedient here devised by Simonides for having the suitors ' well 
despatch'd ' is indeed not very consonant with the dignity of truth ; 
but it is quite characteristic of the waggish tendency to stratagem 
shown by the royal old gentleman, in proceeding to ' dissemble ' his 
satisfaction at his daughter's choice, and to play off a pretended 
anger at the lovers' mutual affection, that he may keep them in a 
flutter of suspense until he choose to join their hands and bid them 
wed at once as the penalty of their transgression, in daring to fall 
in love without his leave. Steevens solemnly demurs to this con- 
duct of Simonides; yet, though it may not be * ingenuous,' it is per- 
fectly in character — diplomatically as well as dramatically." Cf. a 
somewhat similar instance (but with better reason) in Temp, 

10. Wear Diana's livery. Remain a maiden. 

13. Loath. Steevens reads " though loath." 

17. To view. The to is often used with a second verb, though 
not expressed with a preceding one in the sentence. 

18. '7" is well, mistress. Steevens has " Mistress, 't is well." 

25. Beholding. Changed by Malone to "beholden," which is 
not found in S. and other writers of the time. 

34. A most. Steevens reads : " As of a most." 

39. And she ivill be your scholar. Steevens reads : " And she '11 
your scholar be." 



Scene V] Notes 1 79 

49. Thou hast bewitchhi my daughter. Cf. 0th. i. 2. 63 fol. 

52, Levy. A strange use of the word, though intelligible enough. 

62. Her. The 5th quarto has " our," and Walker suggests 
" your." 

68. Resolve. Satisfy, inform. See on ii. 4. 31 above. 

71. Say. Found only in the ist quarto. 

87. A further. The early eds. omit a, which Malone supplied. 

89. My life, or blood. The early quartos have " my life my 
blood." 

92. That I will. Malone reads " that I '11," and Steevens 
« I '11." 

93. And then. Steevens omitted And. He also remarks here : 
" I cannot dismiss the foregoing scene till I have expressed the 
most supreme contempt of it. Such another gross, nonsensical dia- 
logue would be sought for in vain among the earliest and rudest 
efforts of the British theatre. It is impossible not to wish that the 
Knights had horsewhipped Simonides, and that Pericles had kicked 
him off the stage," 

ACT III 

Gower's Prologue. — i, Yslaked. For the old participial pre- 
fix y-, cf. 35 below. 

2. The house about. The early eds. have "about the house; " 
corrected by Malone. 

3. Breast. All the early eds. except the first three quartos mis- 
print " beast." 

5. Eyne. This old plural is often used by S. for the sake of the 
rhyme, and in R. of L. 1229 independently of the rhyme. 

6. Fore. The early eds. have " from ; " corrected by Malone, 

8. E'er, The early eds. have "Are," for which Malone reads 
" As," and Dyce " Aye." E'er was a conjecture of Dyce first put 
in the text by Singer. Clarke retains " Kx^ ; " and the ellipsis is 
not unlike many in these Gower passages. 



1 80 Notes [Act III 

13. Eche. An old spelling of eke, found in early eds. in M. of V. 
iii. 2, 23 and Hen. V. iii. chor. 35. Quaintly — skilfully. Cf. T. 
G. of V. ii. I. 128, M. of V. ii. 4. 6, etc. 

14. Plain. Make plain, explain. 

15. Dertt. "Lonely, solitary, melancholy" (Steevens); or 
"dreadful" (Schmidt). Some make it = " earnest, eager." It 
seems to be found in old writers in all these senses. It is often 
spelt dearn. Perch is doubtless the measure of length (=rod), 
but some have thought it to be = resting-place. 

17. Coigns. Corners. Cf. Macb. i. 6. 7 and Cor. v. 4. i. The 
early eds. have " crignes ; " corrected by Rowe. 

21. Stead the quest. Aid the search. Cf. iv. prol. 41 below, and 
M. of V. i. 3. 7 : " May you stead me," etc. 

27. Set on. For the double preposition, cf. A. Y. L. ii. 7. 139, 
Cor. ii. I. 18, etc. 

29. Oppress. Suppress, put down. Steevens reads " appease." 

32. Dooms. Judgments. Cf. v. 2. 20 below. 

35. Yravished. The ist quarto has " Iranyshed," the 2d " Irany 
shed," and the other early eds. " Irony shed ; " corrected by Stee- 
vens. See on i above. 

36. Can. An old form of gan (= began). Cf. L. L. L. iv. 
3. 106. 

46. Fortune's mood. The early eds. have " fortune mou'd " 
("moou'd" or "mov'd") ; corrected by Steevens. 

47. Grisly. Terrible. The ist quarto has "grisled; " the other 
early eds. " grislee " or grisly. 

51. Well-a-near. "Well-a-day" (which Wilkins has instead); 
a provincial interjection. 

53. Fell. The reading of the 1st quarto ; "selfe" or "self" in 
the other early eds. Verplanck takes fell to be a corruption of the 
modern editors, and reads " self." 

55. Nill. Will not. Cf. Ham. v. i. 19, etc. 

60. Sea-tost. The early eds. have " seas tost ; " corrected by 
Rowe. 



Scene I] Notes l8i 

Scene I, — " The diction throughout the present scene is veri- 
tably Shakespearian. It has that majesty of unrestrained force 
which distinguishes his finest descriptive passages, and that dignity 
of expression, combined with the most simple and natural pathos, 
which characterizes his passages of deepest passion. After the 
comparative stiffness traceable in the phraseology of the previous 
scenes, and after the cramped and antiquated chant-speeches of 
Gower, this opening of the 3d act always comes upon us with the 
effect of a grand strain of music — the music of the great master 
himself — with its rightly touched discords and its nobly exalted 
soul-sufhcing harmonies" (Clarke). 

I, ThoM, The early eds. have "The ; " corrected by Rowe. 

4. CaWd. Fleay reads "recall'd," which may be right. 

5. Deafening. The first three quartos have " deafning," the 
other early eds. " d earning." Y ox gently, the reading of ist quarto, 
the other early eds. have " dayly " or " daily," 

6. AHmble, sulphurous Jiashes I Cf. Lear, ii. 4. 167 (see also iv. 
7. 34) : " You nimble lightnings," etc. 

7. Tkozc stormest venomously. The early eds. have " then storme 
venomously," and Malone reads "Thou storm, venomously." The 
text is due to Dyce. Clarke objects to it that it "destroys the 
address to the storm ; " but it merely changes the form of 
the address, and seems to me more like Shakespeare than 
Malone's reading, which Clarke adopts. 

Pericles is on the deck, Lychorida in the cabin. He goes on 
to say that the noise of the storm drowns even the boatswain's 
whistle ; and his thought seems to be, " How then can Lychorida 
hear me ? " He repeats the cry more loudly, but still getting no 
response lapses into prayer for Thaisa. 

8. Spet. An obsolete spelling of spit, for which see M. of V. 
i. 3. 113, 127, 132. Here the quartos have "speat" and the 3d 
folio "spet," for which the 4th folio substitutes "spit," 

II. Midzvife. The early eds. have "my wife;" corrected by 
Steevens. 



1 82 Notes [Act III 

14. Travail I The early eds. have " travails ; " corrected by 
Dyce. S. elsewhere uses the singular. Clarke, who retains 
"travails," compares the plural in Rich. III. iv. i. 24:, "Then 
bring me to their sights ; " but there, as in many similar instances, 
it is used because more than one person is referred to. 

16, Conceit. Ability to conceive, ox think. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. ii. 
4. 263: "there 's no more conceit in him than is in a mallet," etc. 

19. Do not assist the storm. Cf. Temp. i. i. 15 : "You do assist 
the storm." 

26. Vie honour ivith you. Contend with you in honour. Cf. 
iv. prol. 2)2i below. The early eds. have " vse " for vie, which was 
suggested by Mason. Some read " use." 

29. Conditions ! Qualities, disposition. Cf. M. of V. i. 2; 143, 
etc. Here, however, it may be = circumstances (of her life). 

30. Welcome. Changed by Malone to " welcom'd ; " but the 
text is supported by Wilkins's novel : " Poor inch of nature ! quotha 
he, thou art as rudely welcome to the world, as ever princess' babe 
was," etc. " Poor inch of nature ! " seems like a bit of Shake- 
speare somehow lost from the text. 

32. Chiding. Noisy. Cf. M. N. D. iv. i. 120, A. Y. L. ii. 
I, 7, etc. 

35. Thy loss, etc. "Thou hast already lost more (by the death 
of thy mother) than thy safe arrival at the port of life can counter- 
balance, with all to boot that we can give thee " (Steevens). Quit 
= requite ; as often. 

39. Flaw. Gust, blast. Cf. Ham. v. i. 239: "the winter's 
flaw," etc. 

43. Bolins. Bowlines ; used by S. only here. We find it in 
Two Noble Kinsmen, iv. I. 137 (Fletcher's part) : "Top the 
bowling ; out with the mainsail ! " 

45. But sea-room, etc. Cf. Te^jip. i. i. 8 : "Blow till thou 
burst thy wind, if room enough ! " 

52. Still. Ever, constantly; as very often. Cf. iii. 3. 19 
below. 



Scene I] Notes 1 83 

The 1st quarto (followed substantially by the other early eds.) 
arranges the context thus : — 

" I. pardon vs, sir ; with vs at Sea it hath bin still obserued. 
And we are strong in easterne, therefore briefly yeeld'er. 

Per. As you thinke meet ; for she must over board straight : 
Most wretched Queene." 

Malone was the first to read the whole as prose, and to transfer /£>?' 
she must overboard straight to the Sailor's speech. Custom for 
" easterne " was suggested by Boswell. Mason conjectured " ear- 
nest," and Steevens " credence." Knight adopts Jackson's bad 
conjecture : "And we are strong in, astern." 

56. Here she lies. Here we must suppose that a curtain is drawn 
aside, the space behind which represents the cabin below. This 
was all that the rude appliances of the old stage permitted; the 
spectator's imagination had to supply the rest. 

61. In the ooze. The early eds. have "in oare " or "in oar;" 
corrected by Steevens. Cf. Temp. iii. 3. 10 : "my son i' the ooze 
is bedded." 

62. For. Instead of. Cf. Rich. III. iv. 4. 99 : " For happy 
wife a most distressed widow," etc. 

63. Aye-remainiitg lamps. The ever-burning lamps of a sepul- 
chre. Cf. Sonn. 21. 12: "Those gold candles fix'd in heaven's 
air." The early eds. have "ayre remayning," "ayre remaining," 
or " air remaining ; " corrected by Malone. Tyler thinks " air- 
remaining lamps" are the stars. 

64. And hwjiming water, etc. Cf. Milton, Lycidas, 157 : 
"where thou perhaps under the humming tide," as it read in the 
ed. of 1638 ; afterwards changed to "whelming tide." 

68. Coffer. The early eds. have " coffin ; " corrected by Malone. 
Pericles would not have carried a coffin to sea with him. The 
ancient coffers were often lined with satin or other costly material. 
Satin coffer may, however, as some suppose, be a chest in which 
satins were kept. The chest mentioned just below was prob- 



184 Notes [Act III 

ably (as Clarke suggests) intended as an outer case for the 
coffer. " 

76. Alter thy course for Tyre. That is, which is now fqr Tyre. 
Collier conjectures " from Tyre," as in Wilkins's novel. 

82. Presently. At once ; as very often. 

Scene II. — 9. Pothecary. A common form of apothecary. Cf. 
R, and J. v. 3. 289. Elsewhere (as in Id. v. i. 37, 57, v. 3. 
119, etc.) S. has apotheca?y. 

The recipe, as Malone notes, must be for the poor men already 
mentioned, or for the servant himself. It is evident that it cannot 
be for his master. 

16. Principals. Corner-posts, main timbers; the only instance 
of this sense in S. 

17. All to topple. Some print "all-to topple," and others "all 
to-topple ; " but the all may refer to principals, or it may be an 
adverb used intensively, as often. 

20. Husbandry. Thrift, economy (here of time). Cf. Macb. 
ii. I. 4, etc. 

22. Tire. Apparently = furniture. The early eds. except the 
first three quartos have "attire." Steevens conjectures "such 
towers" for rich tire. Petty is the reading of the first three 
quartos; "pretty" in the other early eds. 

26. Held. The early eds. have " hold ; " but the following were 
favours Malone's emendation. 

27. Cunning. Knowledge, wisdom. Cf. Cor. iv. i. 9, 0th. iii. 
3. 49, etc. Pain = labour ; as in Temp. i. 2. 242, T. of S. iii. 
I. 12, etc. 

36. Vegetives. Vegetables ; used by S. only here. 

37. / can. The early eds. omit /, which Malone supplied. 

41. Treasure. The early eds. have " pleasures " or " pleasure ; " 
corrected by Steevens. 

42. The fool and death. Malone thought that this alludes to the 
old moralities; but the reference is probably to the pictures of the 



Scene II] Notes 185 

"Dance of Death." Steevens mentions an old Flemish print, in 
which Death is represented as plundering a miser of his bags, 
while the fool stands grinning behind. Verplanck remarks : "The 
'Dance of Death' appears to have been anciently a popular exhibi- 
tion. A venerable and aged clergyman informed Steevens that he 
had once been a spectator of it. The dance consisted of Death's 
contrivances to surprise the Merry Andrew, and of the Merry 
Andrew's efforts to elude the stratagems of Death, by whom at last 
he was overpowered ; his finale being attended with such circum- 
stances as mark the exit of the Dragon of Wantley. It should 
seem that the general idea of this serio-comic pas-de-deux had 
been borrowed from the ancient ' Danse de Macabre,' commonly 
called the 'Dance of Death,' v/hich appears to have been anciently 
acted in churches, like the moralities. The subject was a frequent 
ornament of cloisters, both here and abroad. The reader will 
remember the beautiful series of wood-cuts of the ' Dance of 
Death,' attributed (though erroneously) to Holbein. Douce 
describes an exquisite set of initial letters, representing the same 
subject ; in one of which the Fool is engaged in a very stout com- 
bat with his adversary, and is actually buffeting him with a bladder 
filled with peas or pebbles — an instrument used by modern Merry 
Andrews." Cf. Longfellow, Golden Legend, where the pictures of 
the Dance of Death on one of the ancient bridges in Lucerne are 
described. 

48. Time shall never raze. The first three quartos have " time 
shall never." The other early eds. read "as never shall decay." 
Malone prints " time shall never — " Staunton reads " time shall 
ne'er decay." The text is due to Dyce. Raze is favoured by the 
preceding built. 

51. Wrack. See on ii. prol. 32 above. 

55. A good constraint of fortune. A piece of good luck. 

56. Bitunt'd. The early eds. have " bottomed," " bottomd," or 
" bottom'd ; " corrected by Malone, and supported by Wilkins's 
novel. Cf. also iii. i. 72 above. 



1 86 Notes [Act in 

67. Apollo^ perfect me, etc. May Apollo enable me to de- 
cipher it ! The comma is in all the eds., but perhaps it should 
be omitted. 

69. A-land. See on ii. i. 30 above. 

77. Cracks. Cf. M. W. ii. 2. 301 : " my heart is ready to crack," 
etc. See also Ham. v. 2. 370. S. often uses the word with refer- 
ence to the heart. 

84. I heard, etc. The passage is probably corrupt, as Wilkins's 
novel makes Egyptian refer to those who recovered the apparently 
dead : " I have read of some Egyptians, who after four houres 
death (if a man may call it so) have raised impoverished bodies, 
like to this, unto their former health." Malone and Steevens read 
" I have heard," etc. 

85. Lien. The reading of the first three quartos; "bene," 
" beene," or " been " in the other early eds. 

86. By good appliance recovered. The reading of all the early 
eds. Steevens reads (omitting Who), "By good appliance was 
recovered." Dyce has " appliances recover'd." For the singular 
appliance, cf. A. W. ii. i. 116, Hen. VHI. i. i. 124, and Ham. iv. 
3. 10. S. uses the plural only in 2 Hen. IV. iii. i. 29 and M.for 
M. iii. I. 89. 

87. Well said. Well done ; as often. 

90. Vial. The early quartos have "violl ; " the later ones and 
the folios "viall" or "viaL" The modern editors are divided. be- 
tween vial and " viol." "White remarks : " Cerimon's call for 
music might lead us to suppose that we should read viol, were it 
not that he has but just issued the order, and so would not say * the 
viol once more^ " It might be replied that once more is perhaps = 
/ say once more. Clarke puts the case for vial better, I think : 
" It is more likely that he should be eager to have some pungent 
essence for Thaisa to inhale, than that he should name some special 
instrument when desiring that music shall play. It appears to us 
that the call for music is made and renewed ; while the demand 
for the vial is parenthetical." 



Scene III] Notes 1 87 

93. Awakes, etc. The 1st quarto has " awakes a warmth breath; " 
the other early eds. " awakes a warme breath." The correction is 
due to Steevens. 

95. Gins. Often printed " 'gins," but incorrectly. 

99. Cases. Cf. JV. T. v. 2. 14 and Lear, iv. 6. 147. 

103. Do. The early eds. have " doth ; " corrected, perhaps 
unnecessarily, by Malone. Abbott {Grammar, 334) calls it "the 
third person plural in -^^." 

106. Where a?n I ? Cf. p. 146 above. 

no. Mortal. Fatal. Cf. v. i. 36 below. 

Scene III. — 3. Litigious. The word is found only in the first 
three quartos. 

6, Shafts. The early eds. have " shakes," and for htiri " hant," 
" haunt," or " hate ; " corrected by Steevens. 

7. Wanderingly. The early eds. have "wondringly; " also cor- 
rected by Steevens. Mr. Kinnear {Cruces Shakspeariance^ sug- 
gests " wonderingly," which is very plausible. 

19. Still. Constantly; as in iii. i. 52 above. All the early eds. 
except the ist quarto have "dayly" or "daily.'' 

20. Neglection. The reading of the first three quartos ; " neg- 
lect" in the other early eds. Cf. T. and C. i. 3. 127: "neglection 
of degree." 

29. Unscissar^ d shall this hair, etc. The early eds. have " un- 
sistered shall this heyre " (" his heyres " in the 5th quarto) ; cor- 
rected by Steevens, and confirmed by Wilkins's novel. S. uses the 
word only here ; scissar as a verb not at all ; and scissars (so spelt) 
only in C. of E. v. i. 175, where the reference is to cutting hair. 

30. ///. The early eds. have "will." The correction, accord- 
ing to the Cambridge ed., was suggested by Malone, and adopted 
by Singer (2d ed.) ; but Dyce says : " The reading show ill is 
mine, and has been adopted by Mr. Collier in his 2d edition, by 
Mr. Staunton, by Mr. Grant White, and by the Cambridge editors 
(Globe ed.)." It is also in their Cambridge ed. 



1 88 Notes [Act IV 

36. Alask-d. " Masking its dangers with calm " (Verplanck) ; 
"hiding his cruel nature" (Schmidt). "Moist" and "vast" have 
been suggested. Verplanck considers niask''d " singularly .Shake- 
spearian in manner." 

Scene IV. — 2. Coffer. I suspect, as Dyce says he does, that 
this should be " coffin." 

3. Charade}' ? Handwriting. Cf. Cymb. iii. 2. 28, W. T. v. 2. 
38, etc. 

6, Eaning time. Time of delivery. Cf. AI. of V. i. 3. %%: 
" Who then conceiving did in eaning time," etc. The quartos 
have "learning time." 

14. Your date. Your appointed term of life. 

17. That ''s all. Fleay reads " and that is all." 



ACT IV 



Gower's Prologue. — 8. Music, letters. The early eds. have 
" musicks letters ; " corrected by Malone. 

10. Her . . . heart. The early eds. have " hie " (or " high ") 
o . . " art ; " corrected by Steevens. 

12. Wrack. See on ii. prol. 32 above. 

14. Seeks. The early eds. have " Seeke " or " Seek ; " corrected 
by Rowe. 

15, 16. The early eds. have "our Cleon hath" and "a full 
growne wench ; " corrected by Steevens. Hudson reads: — 

" Seeks to take off by treason's knife, 
And in his kind. Cleon doth own 
One daughter, and a wench full-grown," etc. 

His here is taken to refer to envy. " Cleon doth own " was sug- 
gested by Mr. P. A. Daniel. 

17. Rite. The early eds. have "sight;" corrected by Collier. 



Prologue] Notes 189 

Percy had conjectured "rites." Malone reads "fight" (suggested 
by Steevens, who also proposed " night "). They think " marriage 
fight" may mean "Cupid's wars" or "the combats of Venus;" 
but, as Dyce says, if it meant anything it would be " matrimonial 
quarrels." Knight (2d ed.) has "right for marriage rite;" the 
"right" being from the ist quarto. 

18. Hight. Is named. The word is used by S. only as " a char- 
acteristic archaism" (Schmidt). Cf. Z, Z. Z. i. i. 171, 258, and 
M. N. Z>. V. I. 140. 

19. She. The early eds. have " they ; " corrected by Malone. 
21. Sleided. Untwisted or unwrought. Cf. Z. C. 48: "with 

sleided silk," etc. 

23. Needle. Malone reads "neeld," an old form often substi- 
tuted for needle by modern editors when the word is monosyllabic. 
Here the folios have needle^ the quartos " neele." Cf. v. prol. 5 
below. In Gammer Gurton, it rhymes W\\}x feele, Steele, weele. 

26. Night-bird. The nightingale. The early eds. have " night 
bed ; " corrected by Malone. 

27. Records. Sings ; again used of the nightingale in T. G. of 
V. V. 4. 6. 

29. Vail, Bow, do homage. See on ii. 3. 42 above. Pen — 
odes or songs (in praise of Diana). 

31. Absolute. Faultless, perfect. Cf. Ha7n. v. 2. ill: "an ab- 
solute gentleman," etc. 

32. With the dove, etc. The early eds. have "The Doue of 
Paphos might with the crow." The transposition was suggested 
by Mason. For Paphos as sacred to Venus, cf. Temp. iv. i. 93 and 

V. and A. 1 193. 
y^. Vie„ Compete in. Cf. iii. i, 26 above. 
41. Stead, See on iii. prol. 21 above. 

44. Pregnant, Ready, apt. Cf. Lear, iv. 6. 227, 7". and C. iv. 
4. 90, etc. 

45. Prest. Prompt, ready. Cf. M. of V.i. 1. 160-. "I am prest 
unto it." 



190 Notes [Act IV 

46. / do commend to yotir content. " I trust will prove to your 
satisfaction " (Clarke) ; referring to the audience in the theatre. 

47. Carry. The early eds. all have " carried ; " corrected by 
Steevens. 

51. Does. The reading of the 1st quarto; "doth" in the other 
early eds. 

Scene I. — 5. Inflaming love e' thy bosom. The ist quarto 
reads : " in flaming, thy loue bosome ; " which is followed sub- 
stantially by the other early eds. ("inflaming" in folios). Malone 
reads " inflame love in thy bosom ; " Singer, " inflaming love, thy 
bosom ; " and Hudson, " cold, enforcing law, thy bosom." Col- 
lier conjectures "infusing love in thy bosom." The text is due to 
Knight and is adopted by the Cambridge editors, Dyce, Clarke, 
and White. It is on the whole the least unsatisfactory of the 
attempts to mend a hopelessly corrupt passage. Hudson sees an 
inconsistency in speaking of a cold conscience as injlaming love ; 
but, as Clarke notes, Dionyza is urging him to let it remain cold, 
or "lie dead, and not let it kindle into sparks of compunction." 

6. Inflame too nicely. Malone conjectured that these words 
should be omitted. Collier changes Inflame to " Inform." Nicely 
= scrupulously, or squeamishly. 

8. Be a soldier. Ci. Cymb. ii. 4. 186: — 

" this attempt 
I am soldier to, and will abide it with 
A prince's courage." 

II. Her old nurse's death. The early eds. have " onely Mistresse 
death," with slight orthographical variations. I'he text is the con- 
jecture of Percy. White reads " her only nurse's death." 

14. Tellus. Cf. Ham. iii. 2. 166: "Tellus' orbed ground." 
Weed = garment, dress; as in M. N. D. ii. i. 256, ii. 2. 71, etc. 
Fleay fills out the measure by reading " rob robed [rob'd] Tellus." 

17. Carpet. Steevens's conjecture of "chaplet" is plausible, 



Scene I] Notes 191 

but carpets were often used as table covers, drapery, etc. Cf. T. 
of S. iv. I. 52. Knight remarks: " It is evident that the poet was 
thinking of the green mound that marks the last resting-place of 
the humble, and not of the sculptured tomb to be adorned with 
wreaths. Upon the grassy grave Marina will hang a carpet of 
flowers — she will strew flowers, she has before said. The carpet 
of Shakespeare's time was a piece of tapestry, or embroidery, spread 
upon tables ; and the real flowers with which Marina will cover 
the grave of her friend might have been, in her imagination, so 
intertwined as to resemble a carpet, usually bright with the flowers 
of the needle." 

18. Ay vie. Changed by Malone, Hudson, and others to 
" Ah me," which S. never uses. The single apparent exception in 
R. and J, v. I. lo is probably a misprint. 

23-30. Here, as in many other passages of the plaj--, the lines of 
the early eds. have been variously rearranged by the modern edi- 
tors ; but I have not thought it necessary to record the variations. 
I adopt here the arrangement of the Cambridge editors in the 
Globe ed. (in the Cambridge ed. they follow the early eds.). 

23. Do not Consume your blood, etc. Alluding to the old notion 
that each sigh took a drop of blood from the heart. Cf. M. N. D. 
iii. 2. 97, Much Ado, iii. i. 78, Ham. iv. 7. 123, etc. 

25. Of me. In me. Favour — countenance, aspect ; as often. 
Cf. well favoured in 86 below. 

27. Ere the sea mar them. The early eds. have "it" for them, 
which is due to Knight, Hudson reads "Give me your flowers : 
on the sea-margent walk," etc. Fleay would read and arrange 
thus : — 

" Come, go you on the beach, give me your flowers. 
Ere the sea mar it, walk with Leonine." 

28. Quick. Fresh, bracing. 

36. Paragon to all reports. " Whose beauty was once equal to 
all fame said of it" (Malone). 

40. Reserve. Save, guard. Walker conjectures " preserve ; " 



192 Notes [Act IV 

"but S, uses reserve in that sense in Sonn. 32. 7, Cynih, i. 4. 143, iv. 

4. 49, etc. 

41. 6'^'i?«/ The eyes. Cf. Sonn. 20. 8 : " steals men's eyes." 

52. 77^^' wind zuas north. Cf. iii. prol. 47. 

55. Haling ropes. Malone reads " with hauling of the ropes." 

62. A canvas-climber. " One who climbs the mast to furl or un- 
furl the canvas, or sails " (Steevens) . 

63. Dropping. Collier conjectures " dripping," to which the 
word is equivalent, 

64. Slem to stern. The quartos have " sterne to sterne," and the 
folios " stern to stern ; " corrected by Malone. 

77. La. The first three quartos have " law," the other early 
eds. " now ; " corrected by Malone. For the use of la to empha- 
size a statement, cf. Cor. i. 3. 73, 100, etc. 

97. Valdes. Malone suggests that the Spanish Armada furnished 

5. with this name. Don Pedro de Valdes was an admiral in that 
fleet, and was talcen by Sir Francis Drake. Giving the name to a 
pirate would be likely to " take " with an audience of that day. 

Scene II. — This scene, the nastiness of which I have much 
abridged, could not have been written by S. See p. 22 above. 

7. Chequins. The early eds. have " checkins," " chickins," 
" chickeens," or " chickens ; " corrected by Malone. The chequin 
(Italian zecchino') was a gold coin cf Venice, worth about two dol- 
lars in our money. 

Were as pretty a proportion, etc. " Would be as pretty a com- 
petence as need be to live quietly with, and so give over our pres- 
ent occupation " (Clarke) . 

12. Wages not with. Does not equal. Cf. A. and C.v. i. 31 : 
" His taints and honours Wag'd equal with him." 

14. Keep our door hatched. That is, closed against customers 
by means of the half-door or hatch; for which see K. John, i. i. 171, 
V. 2. 138, Lear, iii. 6. 76, etc. 

25. / have gone through, etc. " I have bid a high price for her, 



Scene III] Notes 193 

gone far in my attempt to purchase her" (Steevens). Malone 
changes through to " thorough ; " but the meaning would be the 
same with either word. Cf. iv. 3. 35 below, 

26. My earnest. That is, the money given to close the bargain. 
33. / cannot be bated, etc. Malone plausibly conjectures that it 

is the Pirate who says this. If it belongs to Boult, it must mean, 
" I cannot get them to bate," etc. Dyce suggests that / should be 
"It." For doit (the smallest of coins), cf. M. of V. i. 3. 141, Cor. 
i. 5. 7, etc. 

46. Fault. Misfortune. Cf. M. W. i. i. 95. Collier conjectures 
" The worse my fate." 

55. An honest woman, or not a woman. Knight agrees with 
Horn that this must be Shakespeare's ; but it does not strike me 
as being of such exceptional character. Touches of equal " poetical 
profundity " are by no means rare in contemporary dramatists. 

Scene III. — 11. If thou hadst drunk to him, etc. That i§, if 
you had poisoned yourself in pledging him. 

12. Fact. Deed. Some make it = "crime," the only meaning 
of the word recognized in S. by Schmidt ; but in most instances 
it may have its familiar sense. The word here was suggested by 
Dyce in place of the " face " of the early eds. Mason conjectures 
"feat." 

1 7. Pious. The early quartos have " impious," the other early 
eds. omit the word. Mason's conjecture of pious is confirmed by 
Wilkins's novel. 

18. For an honest attribute. For the sake of an honest reputa- 
tion, or of being accounted honest. 

24. Strain. Stock, race. Cf. f. C. v. i. 59 : "the noblest of 
thy strain," etc. 

27. Prime consent. The early quartos have " prince consent," 
the other early eds. " whole consent ; " corrected by Dyce. 
Steevens conjectures " pre-consent." 

28. Sources. The early eds. have " courses ; " corrected by Dyce. 

PERICLES — 13 



1 94 Notes [Act IV 

30. Can know. Walker conjectures " can now know ; " but the 
measure is probably to be filled out by modifying the pronunciation 
of Leonine. Proper names are often contracted for the sake of the 
metre, and occasionally lengthened. 

31. Distain. Cf. T. and C. i. 3. 241 : " distains his worth," 
etc. The early eds. have " disdaine " or " disdain," which Clarke 
retains, making it = cause to be disdained. Distain was the con- 
jecture of Steevens, though Singer was the first to adopt it. He 
has been followed by most of the more recent editors. 

34. Blurted at. Treated scornfully. Malone quotes Edw. III. : 
" And all the world will blurt and scorn at us." S. uses the word 
only here. 

Malkin. "A coarse wench" (Steevens). Cf. Cor.'ix. 1.224; 
the only other instance of the word in S. The old spelling " maw- 
kin" indicates the common pronunciation. 

35. Thorough, Used by S. interchangeably with through. 

38. // greets me. It gratifies me. Clarke takes it to be = it 
comes before me, it seems to me. Malone suspects that the passage 
is corrupt. 

46. Thou ai't like the harpy, etc. The sense is clear, though the 
construction is confused, as in many other passages in S. Malone 
changes zvith to " wear." Hudson alters the passage thus : — 

" Which, to betray, doth use an angel's face. 
Then seize with eagle's talons." 

48. Talons. All the early eds. spell it " talents," as elsewhere 
in S. Cf, L. L. L. iv. 2. 65, where there is a play on talon and 
talent. 

49. You are like one, etc. " You are so affectedly humane that 
you would appeal to heaven against the cruelty of winter in killing 
the flies" (Boswell). Clarke thinks it means : " You are like one 
that with overscrupulous and superfluous explicitness assures the 
gods that winter kills the flies ; " but this does not seem to me 
so natural or so forcible a retort as the other interpretation gives. 



Scene IV] Notes 195 

Cleon has said, " You are treacherously cruel ; " Dionyza replies, 
" You are superstitiously humane." 

Verplanck remarks : " Throughout this whole scene, slight and 
sketchy as it is, the reader cannot but be strongly reminded of 
Macbeth and his wife. Cleon's ' infirmity of purpose,' shocked at 
the crime, and willing to give ' the spacious world to undo the deed,' 
while he immediately yields to his wife's energy of guilty will, and 
follows out her leading, is in the same spirit with Macbeth's — 

' I am afraid to think what I have done ; 
Look on 't again I dare not,' etc. 

The stern, sustained resolution of Lady Macbeth, her complaint for 
her husband's scruples, as — 

' What beast was 't, then, 
That made you break this enterprise to me ? ' — 
and her — 

' things without remedy 
Should be without regard,' — 

are, when compared with Dionyza's cool reply, * that she 's dead,' 

and her — 

' I do shame 

To think of what a noble strain you are, 

And what a coward spirit,' — 

like the finished work of some great painter by the side of the first 
rough, spirited outline, in which he had embodied his conceptions." 

Scene IV. — 2. Cockles. Malone sees here an allusion to the 
stories of witches sailing in a cockle or mussel shell. 

Have an wish but for V. Have, if we but wish for it ; we have 
but to wish and have it. 

3. Making. Used in the familiar nautical sense of sailing, going. 
Cf. V. I. 19 below. Take — captivate. Y ox your the old eds. have 
" our ; " corrected by Malone. 

8. Stand V the. The early eds. have " stand with " or " stand 
in ; " corrected by Steevens. 



196 Notes [Act IV 

13-16. The 1st quarto, followed substantially by the other early 
eds., disarranges the passage thus : — 

" Old Helicanus goes along behind, 
Is left to gouerne it, you beare in mind. 
Old Escenes, whom Helicanus late 
Aduancde in time to great and hie estate." 

Mr. P. A. Daniel would retain the text of the 1st quarto, pointing 

it thus : — 

" Old Helicanus goes along. Behind 
Is left to govern it, you bear in mind, 
Old Escanes, whom Helicanus late 
Advanc'd in time to great and high estate." 

He adds that " one minute's study of the original will convince the 
reader that Steevens's corruption and topsy-turvy arrangement must 
forthwith be expunged." Possibly he is right. His pointing makes 
sense of the passage, and the arrangement is not clumsier than in 
some other parts of these choruses. The arrangement in the text 
was proposed by Steevens. In 16 Walker conjectures "Good" 
for Old. 

18. His pilot. The early eds. have " this Pilot" or " this Pilate ; " 
corrected by Malone. Clarke retains " this," explaining thus : " Let 
your imagination conceive this thought that I suggest to you ; and 
which, like a pilot, shall conduct and accompany Pericles on his 
sea-voyage." The meaning of the passage as I give it is : *' Sup- 
pose that your imagination is his pilot" (Malone). 

19. Grow on. The early eds. have "grone;" corrected by 
Malone. Steerage = steering ; as in R. and J. i. 4. 112. S. uses 
the word only there. 

24. Passion. Grief, sorrow (as in stage-direction just above). 
Cf. Ham. ii. 2. 541, 587, iv. 5. 188, etc. 

30. His mortal vessel. His body. Cf. A. and C v. 2. 51 : " this 
mortal house I '11 ruin." See also 0th. iv. 2. ?>2, : " to preserve this 
vessel for my lord," etc. For "the weaker vessel" (= woman), 
see I Peter, iii. 7; quoted by S. four times (^A. Y. L. ii. 4. 6, etc.). 



Scene VI] Notes 197 

31. Wit. Know, understand. Cf. "to wit " {M. of V. ii. 9. 90, 
etc.), which we still use as = namely. 

The reading of 31-33 is that of the first three quartos. The 
other early eds. have : — 

" Now take we our way 
To the Epitaph for Marina, writ by Dionizia." 

36. Tyrus. Tyre ; as in iii. prol. 26, etc. 

39. Thetis^ being proud, etc. For Thetis as an impersonation of 
the sea, cf. T. and C. i. 3. 39 : — 

" But let the ruffian Boreas once enrage 
The gentle Thetis," etc. 

"The poet ascribes the swelling of the sea to the pride which 
Thetis felt at the birth of Marina in her element ; and supposes 
that the earth, being afraid to be overflowed, bestowed this birth- 
child of Thetis on the heavens ; and that Thetis, in revenge, makes 
raging battery against the shores" (Mason). 

48. Scene. The early eds. have " Steare," " stteare," or " stear ; " 
corrected by Malone. Steevens reads " scenes display." 

Scene V. — 7. Shall h. Shall us ; a colloquialism, for which 
cf. W. T. i. 2. 178, Cor. iv. 6. 148, etc. Here it is the reading of 
the early quartos, changed to " shall we " in the other old eds. 

Scene VI. — 3. Has me. The me is the expletive or " ethical 
dative." 

5. That. So that ; as in v. prol. 7 below. 

6. Cheapen. Offer to buy. Cf. Mtuh Ado, ii. 3. t^t^ : " or I '11 
never cheapen her ; " the only instance of the word in S. 

8. Lown. Base fellow ;' as in 0th. ii. 3. 95 : " With that he 
call'd the tailor lown." S. uses it only there, 

10. How a, etc. How go a, or how sell a, etc. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. 
iii. 2. 42 : " How a good yoke of bullocks at Stamford Fair ? " 

12. To-bless. The editors generally follow Tyrwhitt in consider- 
ing this an instance of the intensive particle to. See on iii. 2. 17 
above. 



198 Notes [Act V 

16. Iniquity. The reading of the early quartos ; "impurity" in 
the other old eds. The Cambridge ed. follows the quartos in mak- 
ing iniquity the object of have. The inversion is awkward, and I 
prefer Malone's pointing. 

21. For flesh and blood, etc. The early eds. give this to Boult, 
but White is clearly right in transferring it to the Bawd. The mis- 
take probably arose, as he suggested, from using B. as the abbre- 
viation of both Bawd and Boult in the MS. 

63. Persever. The regular form of the word in S. Clear = 
pure, virtuous. 

65. Thoughten. Thinking. Yox\ht,ioxvix,ci.foMghten\x\.Hen.V. 
iv. 6. 18. For the active use, cf. nioulteji = moulting in i Hen. IV. 
iii. I. 152, etc. We still use "well behaved," "well-read," etc. 

68. A piece of virtue. Cf. Temp. i. 2. 56 : "Thy mother was a 
piece of virtue ; " and A. and C. iii. 2. 28 : — 

" the piece of virtue which is set 
Betwixt us as the cement of our love." 

93. Receptacles. Accented on the first syllable ; as in R. and 
J. iv. 3. 39, etc. For seivers the old eds. have " shores " (an obso- 
lete synonym of sewer^, which some retain. 

95. Yet better. Malone reads " better yet." 

97. Would own a name too dear. Would think his name dis- 
honoured. 



ACT V 



Gower's Prologue. — 5. Du77ibs. Cf. A. and C. i. 5. 50 : " Was 
beastly dumb'd by him." S. has the verb only there. 

For needle the early quartos have " neele," and Malone prints 
" neeld." See on iv. prol. 23 above. 

7. That. So that ; as in 9 just below. Cf. iv. 6. 5 above. 

8. Inkle. The word means tape (cf. W. T. iv. 4. 208), but here 
it must be either a very narrow tape or some kind of thread used 



Scene I] Notes 199 

in embroidery. For twin the early eds. have " twine ; " corrected 
by Malone. 

13. On the sea, etc. The early quartos have "on the sea, wee 
there him left ; " the other early eds. " at sea, tmnbled, and tost ; " 
corrected by Malone. 

14. Whence. The early eds. have " Where " or " And ; " cor- 
rected by Steevens. 

19. His, Changed by Hudson to " Her " (the conjecture of 
Walker) ; but, as Clarke suggests, the word may refer to Pericles. 

21. In your supposing, etc. Once more imagine that you see 
the sorrowful Pericles. Some join Of heavy Pericles to what 
follows, reading "the bark." 

23. Where what is done, etc. Where all that is acted — more 
should be shown if it were possible — shall be exhibited. 

Scene I. — i. Resolve. Inform. See on ii. 5. 68 above. For 
Helicanus Walker conjectures " Helicane." 

10. Greet them. The early quartos have "greet him," which the 
Cambridge editors and Clarke retain ; but the use of some in the 
singular would be anomalous. 

15. Sir. Omitted in the early eds. and supplied by Malone. 
19. Made. Cf. iv. 4. 3 above. 

26. Prorogue. The reading of the early quartos ; " prolong " in 
the other early eds. 

27. Distemperature. Disorder. Cf. C. of E. v. i. 82, R. and J. 
ii. 3. 40, etc. It is used of the weather in M. N'. D. ii. i. 106, etc. 

34. Yet let me, etc. The early quartos confuse the text thus : — 

"Hell. You may, but bootlesse. Is your sight see, will not speake 
to any, yet let me obtaine my wish. 

Lys. Behold him, this was a goodly person. 

Hell. Till the disaster that one mortall wight droue him to this." 

The arrangement was corrected in the 4th quarto ; but " wight " 
for night was left to be rectified by Malone. 

36. Mortal. Deadly, fatal ; as often. Cf. iii. 2. 1 10 above. 



200 Notes [Act V 

46. Deafen'' d. The early eds. have " defend " or " defended ; " 
corrected by Malone. 

49. And with her fellow maids is. The early eds. omit wiih and 
is, both of which Malone supplied. Upon is changed by Steevens 
to " within," but the meaning may be " upon the leafy and sheltered 
spot," as Clarke suggests. 

51. The stage-direction is not in the early eds., but was sup- 
plied by Malone. 

52. AlPs. The early eds. have only "all;" corrected by 
Malone. 

58. God^s. The early eds. have " God ; " corrected by Dyce 
(the conjecture of Walker). 

59. Graff. Graft ; as in F. of L. 1062 : " This bastard graff 
shall never come to growth." Cf. the verb in A. Y. L. iii, 2. 124, 
2 Hen. IV. V. 3. 3, etc. 

60. Afflict. The early eds. have " inflict," but it is pretty cer- 
tainly one of the many misprints that disfigure them. Afflict was 
suggested by Malone, and is adopted by many editors. 

63. The stage-direction in the early eds. is simply ^^ Enter 
MarinaP Malone remarks : " It appears that when Pericles was 
originally performed, the theatres were furnished with no such 
apparatus as, by any stretch of imagination, could be supposed to 
present either a sea or a ship ; and that the audience were con- 
tented to behold vessels sailing in and out of port in their miners 
eye only. This license being once granted to the poet, the lord, in 
the instance now before us, walked off the stage, and returned again 
in a few minutes, leading in Marina without any sensible impro- 
priety ; and the present drama exhibited before such indulgent 
spectators was not more incommodious in the representation than 
any other would have been." 

65. Presence ? The early eds. have " present ; " corrected by 
Malone. 

67. Came of etc. Not more elliptical than many passages in the 
play ; but Steevens reads " she came Of gentle kind," etc. 



Scene IJ Notes 20l 

69. Fair one, all. The early eds. have " Faire on all " or " Faire 
and all ; " corrected by Malone. Bounty is Steevens's conjecture, 
for the " beautie " or " beauty " of the early eds. 

71. Prosperous and artificial feat. " Felicitous accomplishment, 
gracefully and skilfully performed deed" (Clarke). Y ox feat the 
early eds. have "fate ; " corrected by Steevens (the conjecture of 
Percy), who also reads "prosperous-artificial." Cf. M. for M. i. 2. 
189 :-^ 

" beside, she hath prosperous art 
When she will play with reason and discourse, 
And well she can persuade." 

Herford remarks that prosperous is " proleptic, anticipating the suc- 
cess of \kiQ feat, which is still in question." 

75. Recovery. Walker conjectures "recure," which Hudson 
adopts. 

79. Marina sings. The following is Marina's song, according 
to Twine (quoted by Steevens) : — 

" Amongst the harlots foul I walk, 
Yet harlot none am I ; 
The rose among the thorns it grows, 
And is not hurt thereby. 

" The thief that stole me, sure I think, 
Is slain before this time ; 
A bawd me bought, yet am I not 
Defil'd by fleshly crime. 

" Were nothing pleasanter to me 
Than parents mine to know; 
I am the issue of a king, 
My blood from kings doth flow. 

" I hope that God will mend my state, 
And send a better day : 
T^ave off your tears, pluck up your heart. 
And banish care away. 



202 Notes [Act V 

" Show gladness in your countenance, 

Cast up your cheerful eyes : 
That God remains that once of nought 

Created earth and skies. 
He will not let, in care and thought, 
You still to live, and all for nought." 

Wilkins, in his novel, quotes this with the following variations : — 

" The rose among the thorns doth grow." 

" Nothing were pleasanter to me." 

" In time the heavens may mend my state. 
And send a better day ; 
For sorrow adds unto our griefs, 
But helps not any way." 

The closing couplet is omitted by Wilkins. 

The song is a translation of the following hexameters in the Gesta 
Romanorum (quoted, with some corrections, by Malone) : — 

" Per scorta heu ! gradior, sed scorti conscia non sura : 
Sic spinis rosa quae nescit violarier ullis. 
Corruit en raptor gladii ferientis ab ictu ; 
Tradita lenoni non sum violata pudore. 
Vulnera cessassent animi, lacrimaeque deessent, 
Nulla ergo melior, si noscam certa parentes. 
Unica regalis generis sum stirpe creata ; 
Ipsa jubente Deo, laetari credo aliquando. 
Terge modo lacrimas, curam dissolve molestam ; 
Redde polo faciem, mentemque ad sidera tolle : 
Nam Deus est hominum plasmator, rector, et auctor, 
Nee sinit has lacrimas casso finire labore." 

82. Hail, sir ! Here the *' Henry Irving " ed. inserts the stage- 
direction " [ Touching Pericles ; " and at the next speech " [ Thrusts 
her awayT Cf. loo and 126 below. 

93. Awkward. Adverse. Cf. 2 Hen. VI. iii. 2. 'i'^ : " awkward 
wind." 

100. You would not do me violence. Referring to the manner 



Scene I] Notes 203 

in which he at first repulsed her, and to which he alludes in 126 
below. Some believe that a portion of the text has been lost here. 
According to Twine, the king "rose up sodainly and stroke the 
maiden," etc. See on 82 above. 

103. Shores. The early eds. have " shews " or " shewes ; " cor- 
rected by Malone (the conjecture of the Earl of Charlemont). 

106. I am great with zuoe, etc. Malone compares I^ich. II. ii. 2. 
62 fol. 

112. Who starves, etc. Cf. A. and C. ii. 2. 241 : — 

" other women cloy 
The appetites they feed, but she makes hungry 
Where most she satisfies." 

117. Owe? Own, possess; as very often. The meaning is: 
" These endowments, however valuable in themselves, are height- 
ened by being in your possession ; they acquire additional grace 
from their owner" (Steevens). 

121. Palace. The early eds. have " Pallas ; " corrected by Ma- 
lone. 

126. Say. The early eds. have "stay; " corrected by Malone. 
When I did push thee back; that is, as he says, when he first saw 
her. See on 82 above. 

132. Open'd. Fleay adds "justly" (from 88 above). 

135. Thousandth. Malone's correction of the "thousand" of 
the early eds. 

138. like Patiettce, etc. Cf. T. A^. ii. 4. 117 : — 

" She sat like Patience on a monument, 
Smiling at grief." 

Smiling Extremity out of act. "By her beauty and patient 
meekness disarming calamity" (Malone). For extremity = \he: 
utmost of suffering, cf. lear, v. 3. 207 : " And top extremity." 

140. How lost thou them ? Thy nafne, etc. The early eds. have 
" How lost thou thy name," etc. ; corrected by Malone. 

155. No motion? "That is, no puppet dressed up to deceive 



204 Notes [Act V 

me?" (Steevens). Cf. T. G. of V. ii. i. lOO: "O excellent mo- 
tion ! O exceeding puppet ! " It also means a puppet-show ; as 
in W. T. iv. 3. 103 : " a motion of the Prodigal Son." No, omitted 
in the early eds., was supplied by Steevens. Knight adopts the 

conjecture of Mason : — 

" and are no fairy-motion? 
Well, speak on," etc. 

Dyce takes " Motion ! " to be the exclamation of Pericles after feel- 
ing of Marina's pulse. White conjectures that the " Motion " of the 
early eds. is a stage-direction that has got into the text. 

157. For. Because. Cf. ii. i. 71 above. 

161. Delivered. Related. Cf. 169 just below. 

167. You HI scarce believe me. The early eds. have "You scorn, 
believe me ; " which the Cambridge editors and White retain, v/ith 
a colon after " scorn." Staunton reads " You scorn to believe me." 
The text is Malone's, and is adopted by Dyce and Hudson. 

174. Who having drawn to do V. Clarke conjectures "he being 
drawn " (cf. Te?np. ii. i. 308, etc.) ; but " who being drawn " would 
be better, I think, if any change is made for the sake of the metre. 
Steevens omitted to do '/, leaving the rest of the line as it is. 

188. Would never. The early eds. have " never would ; " cor- 
rected by Steevens. 

207, 208. Thou hast been, etc. The ist quarto, followed sub- 
stantially by the other early eds., reads : — 

" Thou hast beene God-like perfit, the heir of kingdomes. 
And an other like to Pericles thy father." 

The passage is probably mutilated, and many attempts have been 
made to restore it. A page and a half of the Cambridge ed. is 
devoted to recording them. The most plausible is Mason's : — 

" thou 'rt heir of kingdoms, 
And another life to Pericles thy father ; " 

which I adopt with the modification in the arrangement of the 



Scene I] Notes 205 

lines made by Dyce and others. Cf. what Pericles has said in 196 
just above. Malone (ed. 1790) reads : — 

" (as in the rest you said 
Thou hast been godhke-perfect) the heir of kingdoms, 
And a mother Uke to Pericles thy father ; " 

making heir refer to queen. Singer (2d ed.) has 

" the heir of kingdoms, 
And another hfe to Pericles thy father." 

Collier follows this, except that he has " thou heir ; " and Staunton 
also, except that he prints " another-life." 

216. As she should have been. That is, according to report. 

223. / am wild in my beholding. Schmidt makes this = " I 
look wild ; " but Mr. Rounds more plausibly = " I behold wildly, 
my eyes are dazzled with giddiness." 

226. Doubt. The early eds. have " doat " or " dote ; " corrected 
by Malone. 

230. The music of the spheres! Cf. T. N. iii. i. 121 : "Than 
music from the spheres," etc. 

232. Mtisic, my lord? etc. The early quartos have " Lys. Mu- 
si eke my Lord? I heare." The later ones point it thus : " Musicke 
my Lord, I heare." (except that the 6th has an interrogation mark 
instead of the period) ; and the folios thus : " Musick, my Lord, I 
hear." Malone and Clarke read "Music? My lord, I hear — " 
Dyce suggested that Music should be printed as a stage-direction, 
and in this he has been followed by Staunton, White, and Delius. 
The arrangement of the passage in the text was suggested by the 
Cambridge editors, who remark : "No music is mentioned in Wil- 
kins's novel, and any music of earth would be likely to jar with that 
' music of the spheres ' which was already lulling Pericles to sleep." 

234. Nips. A suspicious word, for which Collier proposes 
"raps" (= enraptures, transports), as in Cymb. i. 6. 51, etc. 

236. A pillow, e.tc. Singer gives this speech to Marina (Malone's 
conjecture) ; but, as Clarke remarks, " the tone of direction and 



2o6 Notes [Act V 

command is more suitable to the governor of Mytilene than to the 
young girl Marina, princess though she be ; and the unassured 
conviction implied in ' If this but answer to my just belief,' rather 
befits the admirer of Marina than Marina herself, who is thoroughly 
aware that she is none other than Pericles' own daughter." 

240. Diana appears, etc. Most editors begin a new scene here ; 
but the Cambridge ed. follows Dyce in continuing the scene. 

Fleay says that he regards this little episode of Diana as no more 
Shakespeare's work than the vision in Cymbeline, and I am inclined 
to agree with him. 

246. Life. The early eds. have " like ; " corrected by Malone 
(the conjecture of the Earl of Charlemont). 

247. Or perform. Malone omits Or. 

248. Do it, and happy. That is, thou livest happy. The early 
eds. have " doo't " or " do't," and Malone reads " Do't, and be 
happy." 

250. Argentine. " Silver-shining " (i?. of L. 786) ; used by S. 
(if it is his) only here. Malone quotes Lord Charlemont's remark 
that "in the chemical phrase, a language well understood when 
this play was written, Luna or Diana means silver, as Sol does 
gold ; " but silver had been associated with Diana and the moon 
long before the days of the alchemists. 

255. Blown. "Swollen" (Steevens). Cf. Cor. v. 4. 50: "the 
blown tide," etc. 

261. Suit. The early eds. have " sleight ;" corrected by Malone. 

Scene II. — Those who begin a new scene at the appearance 
of Diana (line 240 of preceding scene) continue it through this 
speech of Gower's. Dyce includes the speech in scene i. 

2. Dumb. The early eds. have " dum," except the 4th folio, 
which gives " dun." Rowe reads " done." 

3. My last boon. Malone reads " as my last boon " (the con- 
jecture of Steevens). Dyce suggests "deign to give," and Staun- 
ton "freely give." Hudson reads "pray you, give." 



Scene III] Notes 207 

12. He had done. That is, Pericles had done. 

14. Confoiitid. Consume ; as in i Hen. IV. i. 3. loo : " He 
did confound the best part of an hour," etc. 

20. Fancies'. The early eds. have " fancies ; " and Rowe reads 
" fancy's." For " doom " (the early reading) Steevens, followed 
by some recent editors, has " boon ; " but the rhyme of sooti and 
doom is no worse than run and dumb in i and 2 above and many 
others in these Gower prologues. In iii. prol. 31, 32, we have 
moons and dooms. Thankful doom = thankworthy judgment or 
decree. 



Scene III. — Malone compares this scene with that of Hermi- 
one's discovery {^W. T. v. 3), especially lines 120-155 with lines 
44-84 here. 

6. Who. All the early eds. except the 4th folio have " whom." 

8. Who. Malone reads "whom; " as in 57 below. See on i. 
4. 34 above. 

13. Favour I Face, looks ; as in iv. i. 25 above. 

15. Nun? The early quartos have "mum," the other old eds. 
"woman." Nun is the reading of Collier. According to the 
Cambridge ed. it is also given by a MS. corrector in Capell's copy 
of the 1st quarto. It is confirmed by Wilkins's novel. 

22, In blustering morn. The reading of the early eds., for 
which Malone suggests " one." 

24. There. The reading of the early quartos ; " these " in the 
other old eds. 

36. Drowned. That is, sunk and lost in the water. Cf. Temp. 
V. I. 57 : " I '11 drown my book," etc. 

2^^. Parted. Parted from, left; as in Rich. II, iii. i. 3: "your 
souls must part your bodies." 

41. You shall do well, etc. Malone compares 0th. ii. i. 191 : — 

"If it were now to die, 
'T were now to be most happy ; " 



2o8 Notes [Act V 

and W. T. iv. 4. 472 : — 

" If I might die within this hour, I have liv'd 
To die when I desire." 

43. Be buried, etc. Cf. W. T. iv. 4. 132: — 

" not to be buried, 
But quick and in my arms." 

48. For. Because. Cf. v. i. 157 above. Yielded =hoxn. Cf. 
Cyjnb. ii. i. 58. 

57. Who. Malone reads "whom." Cf. 8 above. 

59. This 7nan. Dyce and Hudson adopt Walker's plausible 
conjecture, "this is the man." 

61. Resolve. Satisfy, inform ; as in v. I. 13 above. 

63. Deliver. State, tell. See on v, i. 161 above. 

73. This ornament. Cf. Much Ado, iii. 2. 45 : " The old orna- 
ment of his cheek hath already stuffed tennis-balls." Here the 
word seems strange unless Pericles, now recovering his senses, 
speaks ironically. 

74. Makes. The reading of the early quartos ; " that makes " 
in the other old eds. and in some modern ones. The speech is 
evidently corrupt. 

79o Make a star of him ! Honour him with a place among the 
stars. Cf. R. and J. iii. 2. 22 : — 

" when he shall die, 
Take him and cut him out in little stars ; " 

Cymb. V. 5. 352 : — ■ 

"for they are worthy 
To inlay heaven with stars." 

and I Hen. VI. i. i. 55 : — 

" A far more glorious star thy soul will make 
Than Julius Caesar or bright — " 

%f^. Preserved. The early eds. have " preferd " or " preferred ; " 
corrected by Malone. 



Scene III] Notes 209 

96. And konoicr^d. The folio reading; "the" for and in the 
quartos. 

97. City. Of course = citizens, as Malone takes the trouble to 
inform us ; but perhaps only to explain the plural verb. 

98. That. So that. Cf. iv. 6. 4 above. 

100. Punish them. The early eds. omit them^ which Malone 
supplied. Hudson reads " punish crime." 



PERICLES — 14 



APPENDIX 

The " Collaboration " Theory of the Play 

In the Introduction (p. 15) I have referred very briefly to the 
theory, recently revived by so good a critic as Sidney Lee, that 
Pericles was written by Shakespeare and some other dramatist 
working in partnership, or " collaboration," as was often done by 
playwrights in that day. The double authorship of certain other 
plays in the Shakespeare canon — Henry VIII., Timon of Athens, 
and The Two Noble Kinsmen — has sometimes been explained in 
the same way. 

But there is no external evidence whatever that Shakespeare 
ever entered into any such literary partnership ; and, in my opin- 
ion, the internal evidence of all these plays is decidedly against the 
theory. This is particularly true of Pericles. To say nothing of 
reasons drawn from the dramatic structure of the play, the question 
is settled, to my thinking (and in respect to Timon of Athens as 
well), by metrical considerations alone. Shakespeare was emi- 
nently a metrist. He was born with the metrical or rhythmical 
ear. His earliest work, whether we suppose it to be Venus and 
Adonis, or some of the Sonnets, or plays like Lovers labour ''s Lost 
and The Two Gentlemen of Verona, shows an artistic metrical 
skill, which is invariably — naturally and of necessity — combined 
with extreme sensitiveness to metrical imperfections in others. If 
Shakespeare wrote Pericles, or any other play, in conjunction with 
another author, he must of course have read what his partner con- 
tributed to the joint stock ; and it is absolutely inconceivable that 
he could have tolerated in combination with his own work such 
wretched verse as we find in portions of Pericles and Timon. It is 
difficult to believe that he could have consented to collaborate with 

210 



Appendix 211 

such a man ; but, if he did, he would have insisted upon being 
allowed to put his partner's harsh and halting lines into better 
shape. I can imagine him, after reading some of this verse, if 
verse it can be called, saying to the author, as he made Hotspur 
say of the " ballad-mongers : " — 

" I had rather hear a brazen canstick turn'd, 
Or a dry wheel grate on the axle-tree ; 
And that would set my teeth nothing on edge, 
Nothing so much as [poetry like this]. 
'T is like the forc'd gait of a shuffling nag.'" 

We all remember how he makes Rosalind criticise Orlando's 
love-verses : — 

" Celia. Didst thou hear these verses ? 

Rosalind. O, yes, I heard them all, and more too ; for some of 
them had in them more feet than the verses would bear. 

Celia. That 's no matter : the feet might bear the verses. 

Rosalind. Ay, but the feet were lame and could not bear themselves 
without the verse, and therefore stood lamely in the verse." 

And Touchstone, we know, compares the jingling rhymes to the 
"right butter-women's rank to market" — the mere jog-trot of 
metre — and again he calls it " the very false gallop of verse." 

These and other passages that might be quoted show his criti- 
cal way of looking at versification. The rhymes of the clowns in 
the Midsummer Nighfs Dream, though put in a stanza-like ar- 
rangement which he never uses elsewhere, are better verse than 
much in Pericles and Timon. The " feet " at least are all right in 
the composition of the hard-handed men of Athens, the burlesque 
features being the excess of alliteration, the absurd figures, and 
other rhetorical extravagances. Imperfect rhythm the poet seems 
to have considered as too bad even for Bottom and his crew. Is it 
then to be supposed that he could have endured it in a dramatic 
production of which he was to be known as joint author ? 

We have seen that the player-editors of the folio of 1623 rejected 



212 Appendix 

Pericles, though they printed other plays of mixed or doubtful 
authorship, and though Pericles had been pubUshed by itself in 
quarto form in 1609 with Shakespeare's full name as author on 
the title-page. But the quarto was undoubtedly a " pirated " edi- 
tion, like most if not all of the quartos published before 1623, and 
cannot therefore have any important bearing upon the question 
either way. How then are we to explain the rejection of Pericles 
by the folio editors ? It seems to me highly probable that they 
were aware that Shakespeare did not like the manner in which the 
play had been finished or " adapted " for the stage. He certainly 
had good reason for being disgusted with the poor stuff that had 
been prefixed to his charming dramatic sketch ; and, while he may 
have winked at the profanation so far as it answered a temporary 
purpose on the stage of his own theatre, he may have been justly 
indignant that the mongrel production should have been printed 
by an unscrupulous publisher with his name as sole author on the 
title-page. The quarto was, moreover, wretchedly printed, making 
the imperfections of his own rough and unfinished draft, and the 
vileness of the interpolated matter, the more glaring. 

Heming and Condell were not only fellow-actors with Shake- 
speare but his intimate friends — the only members of the company, 
except Burbage, who were remembered in his will — and that fact 
tends to confirm the supposition that they knew his feeling concern- 
ing this play (as of others) and that it influenced them in deciding 
what to include and what to exclude in the collected edition of his 
works which they compiled after his death. 

It is remarkable, moreover, that Pericles was omitted from the 
second folio in 1632, though the firm that then owned the copy- 
right of the play was interested in the publication of that edition. 
The influence, whatever it was, that kept the drama out of the first 
folio appears to have been sufficient to exclude it from the second 
also. The publishers of the third folio, more than thirty years later, 
were less scrupulous, not only admitting Pericles but adding six 
other plays in which Shakespeare had no share whatever. 



Appendix 213 



The Stage History of the Play 

It is a curious fact that Pericles, with all its faults, was very popu- 
lar on the stage for many years after its first production. The six 
piratical quarto editions brought out between 1609 and 1635 would 
sufifi.ce to prove this, if we had no other contemporaneous evidence 
to the same effect ; but there are many complimentary allusions to 
it in the literature of the time. The subject has been referred to 
above (p. 12), but may be briefly continued here. 

Robert Tailor, in the prologue to a play in 16 14, says : — 

"And if it prove so happy as to please, 
We '11 say 't is fortunate like Pericles." 

This, however, has been understood to mean "fortunate" in spite 
of its dramatic defects. 

As late as 1646 a poet named Shephard wrote in no ambiguous 

strain thus : — 

" with Sophocles we may 
Compare great Shakespeare : Aristophanes 
Never like him his Fancy could display, 
Witness the Prince of Tyre, his Pericles." 

There were, nevertheless, those who were more critical in their 
estimate of the play. In 1652, J. Tatham, in quoting opinions of 
various plays with which he did not himself agree, says : — 

" Shakespeare, the Plebeian driller, was 
Founder'd in Pericles, and must not pass." 

He calls these critics " ingrateful " in that they 

" dart their rage 
Against the beams that warm them and the stage." 

Ben Jonson's sneer at Pericles and Feltham's rejoinder have been 
quoted above (p. 12). 

In 1 619, Pericles was selected for a performance at court, being 



214 Appendix 

played, as the ancient record says, ^* before the Marquis Tremouille 
and other French Lords at Whitehall in the king's great chamber." 

It was revived at the Globe Theatre in 1631, by the King's com- 
pany ; and again at the Cock Pit in Drury Lane, about thirty years 
later. 

In 1738, an adaptation of the play, based upon the last two acts, 
by George Lillo, was represented at Covent Garden. 

We hear nothing more of Pericles on the stage until 1854, when 
it was a conspicuous success in the series of Shakespearian repro- 
ductions at Sadler's Wells in London, though this may have been 
largely due to the novelty of the revival. Since that time, so far as 
I can learn, it has not been put upon the stage anywhere. 



The Time-Analysis of the Play 

This is summed up by Mr. P. A. Daniel ( Trans, of Neiv Shaks. 
Soc. for 1877-1879, p. 255) thus : — 

" The story of Pericles comprises a period of from fifteen to six- 
teen years, of which fourteen days are represented on the stage, the 
chief intervals being accounted for in the choruses." 

1st Chorus, introducing — 
Day I. Act I. sc. i. 

Interval. Pericles returns to Tyre. 
" 2. Act I. sc. ii., iii. 

Interval. Pericles sails to Tarsus. 
" 3. Act I. sc. iv. 
2d Chorus. An interval. Sojourn of Pericles at Tarsus, depar- 
ture therefrom, and arrival at Pentapolis. 
Day 4. Act II. sc. i. 
" 5. Act II. sc. ii.-iv. 
*' 6. Act II. sc. V. 



Appendix 215 

3d Chorus. An interval of eight or nine months. Marriage of 
Pericles, his wedded life, and departure from Pentapolis, 
Day 7. Act III. sc. i. 
" 8. Act III. sc. li. 

Interval of a few days. 
" 9. Act III. sc. iii., iv. 
4th Chorus. An interval of fourteen years. Education of Marina 
in Tarsus. 
Day lo. Act. IV. sc. i. 

Interval, Marina's voyage from Tarsus to Mytilene. 
" II. Act IV. sc. ii., iii. 
5th Chorus. Act IV. sc. iv. An interval of a few days. Peri- 
cles arrives in Tarsus, and departs therefrom on learning his 
daughter's supposed death. 

Day 12. Act IV. sc. v., vi. [should be V. i., ii.] 
6th Chorus. An interval of three months between the depar- 
ture of Pericles from Tarsus and his arrival at Mytilene. 
Day 13. Act V. sc. i. 

7th Chorus. Act V. sc. ii. An interval. Sojourn in Mytilene 
and voyage to Ephesus. 
Day 14. Act V. sc. iii. 
8th Chorus. Epilogue. 



List of Characters in the Play 

The numbers in parentheses indicate the lines the characters 
have in each scene. 

Antiochus : i. 1(67). Whole no. 67. 

Pericles: i. 1(98), 2(94), 4(17); ii. 1(79), 3(25), 5(33); iii. 
i(59)> 3(28); V. 1(115), 3(55)- Whole no. 603. 



2i6 Appendix 

Helicanus: i. 2(31), 3(19) ; 11.4(32); v. 1(39), 3(1). Whole 
no. 122. 

Escanes : 11. 4(2). Whole no. 2. 

Simonides : 11. 2(28), 3(67), 5(58). Whole no. 153. 

Clean: 1. 4(74); HI. 3(14); iv. 3(22). Whole no. no. 

Lysimachus : Iv. 6(52); v. 1(55). Whole no. 107. 

Cerimon : 111. 2(84), 4(8); v. 3(17). Whole no. 109. 

Thaliard: 1. 1(6), 3(22). Whole no. 28. 

Philemon: ill. 2(3). Whole no. 3. 

Leonine : Iv. 1(23). Whole no. 23. 

Marshal: 11. 3(1). Whole no. i. 

Pandar : Iv. 2(28), 6(4). Whole no. 32. 

Boult : iv. 2(44), 6(55). Whole no. 99. 

Messenger : 1. 1(1). Whole no. i. 

i^/Z^r^.- 1.2(1), 4(7); 11. 2(6), 4(16); v.i(3). Wholeno. 33. 

id Lord: i. 2(2); 11. 2(2), 4(7). Whole no. 11. 

id Lord : 11. 2(2), 4(1). Whole no. 3. 

\st Fisherman : 11. 1(43). Whole no. 43. 

2d Fisherjnan : 11. 1(31). Whole no. 31. 

"^d Fisherman : 11. 1(20). Wholeno. 20. 

1st Knight : 11. 3(6), 5(1). Whole no. 7. 

2d Knight : 11. 5(1). Whole no. i. 

■^d Knight : 11. 5(1).* Whole no. i. 

1st Sailor : Hi. 1(10), Whole no. 10. 

2d Sailor : ill. 1(6). Whole no. 6. 

1st Gentleman: Hi. 2(18); iv. 5(6); v. 1(1). Whole no. 25. 

2d Gentleman: ill. 2(14); iv. 5(4). Whole no. 18. 

1st Pirate: iv. 1(1), 2(1). Whole no. 2. 

2d Pirate : iv. i(i). Wholeno. i. 

T^d Pirate : iv. 1(2). Whole no. 2. 

Servant : m. 2(6) . Whole no. 6. 

Tyrian Sailor : v. 1(9). Whole no. 9. 

Daughter {of Antiochtis') : 1. 1(2). Whole no. 2. 

Dionyza : i. 4(9); iii. 3(6); iv. 1(38), 3(36). Whole no. 89. 



Appendix 217 

Thaisa: ii. 2(22), 3(22), 5(4); iii. 2(2), 4(10); v. 3(22). 
Whole no. 82. 

Marina: iv. 1(46), 2(16), 6(61); v. 1(65), 3(2). Whole no. 
190. 

Lychorida : iii. i(ii). Whole no. ii. 

Bawd: iv. 2(74), 6(43). Whole no. 117, 

"Diana": v. i(io). Whole no. 10. 

"Goiver" (as" C/zorz(s^') : i. (42); ii. (40); iii. (60); iv. (52), 
4(51); V. (24), 2(20), 3(18). Whole no. 307. 

'M//".- i. 4(2); ii. 2(1), 4(1). Whole no, 4. 

In the above enumeration, parts of lines are counted as whole 
lines, making the total in the play greater than it is. The actual 
number of lines in each scene (Globe edition numbering) is as 
follows: i. chor. (42), 1(171), 2(124), 3(4°), 4(io8); ii. chor. 
(40), 1(173), 2(60), 3(116), 4(58), 5(93); iii. chor. (60), 1(182), 
2(111), 3(41), 4(18); iv.chor. (52), 1(103), 2(163), 3(51), 4(51), 
5(10), 6(212); V. chor. (24), 1(265), 2(20), 3(103). Whole num- 
ber of Hnes in the play, 2391 (in Shakespeare's part, 756). 



INDEX OF WORDS AND PHRASES 
EXPLAINED 



absolute (= perfect) , 189 
addressed (= prepared), 

176 
afore me, 170 
a-land, 168, 186 
all to topple, 184 
amazement, 161 
and that (= and if), 153 
appliance, 186 
argentine, 206 
artificial, 201 
as (=as if), 154, 155 
as (= that) , 160 
attribute (= reputation), 

193 
awful (= full of awe) , 166 
awkward (= adverse), 

202 
ay me! 191 

bases (garment), 172 

been (= are) , 167 

beholding (= beholden), 

. 178 

benign (accent), 166 

bitumed, 185 

blown (= swollen) , 206 

blurted at, 194 

bolins, 182 

book (metaphor), 155 

bots on 't ! 171 

brace (= armour), 171 

braid (= reproach), 158 

breathing (= exercise), 

i77_ 
building, 172 
buxom, 154 

can (= gan), 180 
cancel (noun), 159 
canvas-climber, 192 
cares it be not done, 161 
carpet, 190 
cates, 175 



censure (= judgment), 
177 

change of thoughts, 160 

character (= handwrit- 
ing), 188 

cheapen, 197 

chequins, 192 

chiding (= noisy) , 182 

city (= citizens) , 209 

clear (= pure) , 198 

coffer, 183, 188 

coigns, 180 

commend (noun), 174 

commend to your con- 
tent, 190 

conceit, 182 

conditions (= qualities), 
182 

condolements, 171 

confound (= consume), 
207 

consist (= stand), 165 

consume blood (by sigh- 
ing), 191 

conversation (= con- 

duct), 166 

convince (= overcome), 
162 

copp'd, 159 

countless (= infinite), 156 

cracks (of heart), 186 

cunning (= knowledge), 
184 

curious (= elegant), 165 

date (= term of life), 188 
death-like dragons, 156 
deliver (= relate), 204, 

208 
dern, 180 

desire (metre), 156 
Diana's livery, 178 
discourse our woes, 164 
distain, 194 

219 



distemperature, 199 
doit, 193 
do 'e, 171 

dooms (= judgments) , 180 
doubt (= suspect), 162 
doubting (= fearing) , 163 
dropping (industry), 192 
drowned (= sunk) , 207 
dumbs, 198 

eaning time, 188 

earnest (noun), 193 

eche, 180 

edict (accent), 159 

entertain (noun), 160 

entrance (trisyllable), 176 

escapen, 167 

et bonum quo antiquius, 

etc., 153 
extremity, 203 
eyne, 179 

fact (= deed) , 193 
fair glass of light, 158 
fault (= misfortune) , 193 
favour (= face), 191, 207 
fence (= guard), 161 
fere, 154 
flap-jacks, 170 
flaw (=gust), 182 
fool and death, the, 184 
for (= because) , 204, 208 
for (=for fear of), 157 
for (=fit for), 155 
for (= instead of) , 183 
forbear (= bear with), 178 
frame (= shape course), 

154 
full of face, 154 
furtherance, 172 

gins (verb), 187 
give him glad, 167 
glad (verb), 156 
glass (figurative), 164 



220 Index of Words and Phrases 



gloze, 159 
gone through, 192 
good constraint of for- 
tune, 185 
graff, 200 

greets (= gratifies), 194 
griefs (= grievances), 177 
grieve (= grieve us), 177 
grisly, 180 

haling ropes, 192 
happily (= haply), 165 
hatched (door), 192 
have an wish but for 't, 

195 
he not thought upon, 175 
heap (=mass), 156 
heaven (plural), 164 
Hesperides, 153, 156 
hight, 189 
his (= its), 172, 174 
his wife's soul, 170 
holy-ales, 153 
honest (in addresses), 169 
honour (= honourable 

duty), 173 
how a (= how go a), 197 
humming water, 183 
husbandry, 184 
husht (= hush), 163 

I wis, 166 

in hac spe vivo, 174 
inkle, 198 
intend, 162 

impudence (= immod- 
esty), 176 

jetted (= strutted), 164 

jewel, 172 

just (= tilt), 170 

keep door hatched, 192 
killen, 166 

la (emphatic), 192 

let their ears hear their 

faults hid, 161 
level (= aim), 177 
levy, 179, 
lien, 186 
like (= as), 177 
longs (= belongs), 167 
lown, 197 
Lucina, 155 
lux tua vita mihi, 173 

make a star of him, 208 



making (= sailing), 195, 

199 
malkin, 194 
marriage (trisyllable) , 

175 
masked Neptune, 188 
measure (dance), 177 
me (expletive), 197 
me pompae provexit apex, 

174 
mortal (= fatal), 187, 199 
mortal vessel, 196 
motion (= puppet), 203 
mild companion, 156 
mischief (= misery ?) , 163 
music of the spheres, 205 

nation (trisyllable), 165 

ne (= nor), 167 

needle (spelling), 189, 198 

neglection, 187 

nicely, 190 

night-bird, 189 

nill, 180 

nimble (lightning), 181 

nips, 205 

not yet two summers 

younger, 164 
nousle, 165 

on (doubled), 180 
opinion (= reputation) , 

174 
oppress (= suppress), 180 
orbs (= spheres), 162 
ornament (= beard) , 208 
ostent, 161 
owe (= own) , 203 
own a name too dear, 198 

pain (= labour), 184 
Paphos, 189 

paragon to all reports, 191 
partake (= impart), 160 
parted (= parted from) , 

207 
passion (= grief) , 196 
Patch-breech, 168 
pen (= odes), 189 
Pentapolis, 168, 170 
perch, 180 
persever, 198 
Philoten, 153 
physic (metaphor), 158 
piece of virtue, 198 
Pilch, 168 
pistol, 160 



piu por dulzura, etc., 173 
plain (= explain) , 180 
poor worm, 159 
porpus, i58 
pothecary, 184 
pregnant (= ready), 189 
present, 174 
presently, 184 
prest, 189 
prince', 167 
principals, 184 
prosperous and artificial 

feat, 201 
purchase (=gain), 153 

quaintly, 180 
quick (= fresh) , 191 
quit (= requite), 182 
quod me alit, me extin- 
guit, 174 

rapture (= seizure), 172 
receptacle (accent), 198 
records (= sings), 189 
reserve (= guard), 191 
resist me, 175 
resolve (= satisfy), 177, 

179, 199, 208 
return (= reply), 173 
riches (singular), 164 
rite, 188 

sail (= fleet), 165 
satin coffer, 183 
sayed (= assayed), 157 
seas (metaphor), 178 
semblance (trisyllable) , 

165 
sense (= sensual desire), 

158 
shall 's, 197 
shine (noun), 162 
shipman, 163 
sic spectanda fides, 174 
Signior Sooth, 161 
sleided, 189 
smiling extremity out of 

act, 203 
smooth (= flatter), 162 
soldier, be a, 190 
soldier's dance, 176 
sometimes (= formerly) , 

157. 
speeding, 177 
speken, i66 
spet, 181 



Index of Words and Phrases 221 



standing-bowl, 176 
stead (=aid), 180, rSg 
steerage, 196 
still (= constantly), 182, 

187 
strain (= race) , 193 
strongest in our censure, 

177 

take (= captivate) , 195 
talents (— talons), 194 
Tellus, 190 
thankful doom, 207 
that (= so that), 197, 198, 

209 
Thetis, 197 
thorough (= through) , 

194 
though, 167 
thoughten, 198 
thronged up, 170 
tire (noun), 184 
to-bless, 197 



topped (= lopped), 163 
tree (peculiar), 160 
triumph (= tournament) , 

172 
Tyrus, 197 

unscissared, 187 
unto (= according to), 
172 

vail (slower), 175, 189 

vails (= avails), 171 

Valdes, 192 

vegetives, 184 

veins (metaphor), 166 

vessel (=body), 196 

vial (reading), 186 

vie (= compete in), 182, 



wages not with, 192 

wanion, 168 

waste (= spend), 154 



weed (= garment), 190 

well-a-near, 180 

well said (=well done), 

186 
where (= whereas), 160, 

175 
whereas (= where), 165 
whipped (vagrant), 170 
whipstock, 174 
who (omitted), 160 
who (= which), 162 
who (= whom), 157, 164, 

207, 208 
wight, 154 

wild in beholding, 205 
wit (= know), 197 
word (= motto), 173 
wracked, 167, 185, 188 
writ (= holy writ), 166 

yielded (= born) , 208 
yravished, 180 
y slaked, 179 



ROLFE'S ENGLISH CLASSICS 

Desigfned for Use in High Schools and 
Other Secondary Schools 

Edited by WILLIAM J. ROLFE, Litt.D. 

Formerly Head Master, High School, Cambridge, Mass. 
Uniform Flexible Cloth, 12mo. Illustrated. Each, 56 Cents 



Browning's Select Poems 

Twenty Poems (including "Pippa Passes"), with Introduction, Life 
of Browning, Chronological Table of His Works, List of Books useful 
in studying them. Critical Comments, and Notes. 

Browning's Select Dramas 

Containing " A Blot in the 'Scutcheon," *' Colombe's Birthday," 
and "A Soul's Tragedy" — with Introduction, Critical Comments, and 
Notes. 

Goldsmith's Select Poems 

" The Traveller," " The Deserted Village," and " Retaliation," 
with Life of Goldsmith, Recollections and Criticisms by Thackeray, 
Coleman the Younger, Campbell, Forster, and Irving, and Notes. 

Gray's Select Poems 

The "Elegy," "The Bard," "The Progress of Poesy," and other 
Poems, with Life of Gray, William Howitt's Description of Stoke- 
Pogis, and historical, critical, and explanatory Notes. 

Macatjiay's Lays of Ancient Rome 

With the Author's Preface and Introductions, Criticisms by John 
Stuart Mill, Henry Morley, " Christopher North," and others, 
historical and explanatory Notes, and copious Illustrations. 

Milton's Minor Poems 

Containing all of Milton's Minor Poems except the Translations, 
with biographical and critical Introductions, and historical and ex- 
planatory Notes. 

Wordsworth's Select Poems 

Seventy-one Poems, with Life, Criticisms from Matthew Arnold, 
R. H. Hutton, Principal Shairp, J. R. Lowell, and Papers of the 
Wordsworth Society, and very full Notes. Illustrated by Abbey, 
Parsons, and other eminent artists. 

Copies will be sent, prepaid, on receipt of the price. 



AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 

NEW YORK CINCINNATI CHICAGO 

(S.96) 



BY 

REUBEN POST HALLECK, M.A. (Yale) 
Price, $1.25 



'ALLECK'S History of English Literature 
is a concise and interesting text-book of 
the history and development of English 
literature from the earliest times to the present. 
While the work is sufficiently simple to be readily 
comprehended by high school students, the treat- 
ment is not only philosophic, but also stimulating 
and suggestive, and will naturally lead to original 
thinking. 

The book is a history of literature and not a 
mere collection of biographical sketches. Only 
enough of the facts of an author's life are given 
to make s^udents interested in him as a personality, 
and to show how his environment affected his 
work. The author's productions, their relation 
to the age, and the reasons why they hold a posi- 
tion in literature, receive treatment commensurate 
with their importance. 

At the end of each chapter a carefully pre- 
pared list of books is given to direct the student 
in studying the original works of the authors 
treated. He is told not only what to read, but 
also where to find it at the least cost. 



AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 

NEW YORK CINCINNATI CHICAGO 

(S. 90) 



DEC 29 190i 



